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.org/details/chatsonpostagestOOmelvrich 


CHATS  ON 
POSTAGE  STAMPS 


BOOKS  FOR  COLLECTORS 

With  Coloured  Frontispieces  and  many  Illustrations, 
Large  Crown  8vo,  cloth. 

CHATS  ON  ENGLISH  CHINA. 
By  Arthur  Hayden. 

CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE. 
By  Arthur  Hayden. 

CHATS  ON  OLD  PRINTS. 

By  Arthur  Hayden. 

CHATS  ON  COSTUME. 

By  G.  Woolliscroft  Rhead. 

CHATS  ON  OLD  LACE  AND 
NEEDLEWORK. 
By  E.  L.  Lowes. 

CHATS  ON  ORIENTAL  CHINA. 

By  J.  F.  Blacker. 

CHATS  ON  MINIATURES. 
By  J.  J.  Foster. 

CHATS  ON  ENGLISH  EARTHENWARE. 

By  Arthur  Hayden. 
(Companion  Volume  to  •* Chats  on  English  China.") 

CHATS  ON  AUTOGRAPHS. 

By  A.  M.  Broadley. 

CHATS  ON  OLD  PEWTER. 
By  H.  J.  L.  J.  Masse,  M.A. 

CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS. 
By  Fred  J.  Melville. 


•  Chats  on 
Postage  Stamps 


BY 

FRED   J.   MELVILLE 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  JUNIOR  PHILATELIC  SOCIETY 


WITH   SEVENTY-FOUR   ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.   STOKES   COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


{All  rights  reserved.) 


PREFACE 


Come  and  chat  in  my  stamp-den,  that  I  may  encircle 
you  with  fine-spun  webs  of  curious  and  rare  interest, 
and  bind  you  for  ever  to  Philately,  by  which  name 
we  designate  the  love  of  stamps.  The  "  den  "  pre- 
sents no  features  which  would  at  first  sight  differen- 
tiate it  from  a  snug  well-filled  library,  but  a  close 
inspection  will  reveal  that  many  of  the  books  are  not 
the  products  of  Paternoster  Row  or  of  Grub  Street. 
Yet  in  these  stamp-albums  we  shall  read,  if  you  will 
have  the  kindness  to  be  patient,  many  things  which 
are  writ  upon  the  postage-stamps  of  all  nations,  as  in 
a  world  of  books. 

It  is  not  given  to  all  collectors  to  know  their 
postage-stamps.  There  is  the  collector  who  merely 
accumulates  specimens  without  studying  them.  He 
has  eyes,  but  he  does  not  see  more  than  that  this 
stamp  is  red  and  that  one  is  blue.  He  has  ears,  but 
they  only  hear  that  this  stamp  cost  £1^000,  and  that 
this  other  can  be  purchased  wholesale  at  sixpence 
the  dozen.  What  shall  it  profit  him  if  he  collect 
many  stamps,  but  never  discover  their  significance  as 
factors   in   the   rapid   spread    of   civilisation   in   the 


242373 


8  PREFACE 

nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries  ?  The  true 
student  of  stamps  will  extract  from  them  all  that 
they  have  to  teach ;  he  will  read  from  them  the 
development  of  arts  and  manufactures,  social,  com- 
mercial and  political  progress,  and  the  rise  and  fall 
of  nations. 

To  the  young  student  our  pleasant  pastime  of 
stamp-collecting  has  to  offer  an  encouragement  to 
habits  of  method  and  order,  for  without  these 
collecting  can  be  productive  of  but  little  pleasure 
or  satisfaction.  It  will  train  him  to  be  ever  observant 
of  the  minuticB  that  matter,  and  it  will  broaden  his 
outlook  as  he  surveys  his  stamps  "from  China  to 
Peru." 

The  present  volume  is  not  intended  as  a  complete 
guide  to  the  postage-stamps  of  the  world  ;  it  is  rather 
a  companion  volume  to  the  standard  catalogues  and 
numerous  primers  already  available  to  the  collector. 
It  has  been  my  endeavour  to  indicate  what  counts  in 
modern  collecting,  and  to  emphasise  those  features  of 
the  higher  Philately  of  to-day  which  have  not  yet 
been  fully  comprehended  by  the  average  collector. 
Some  of  my  readers  may  consider  that  I  have  unduly 
appraised  the  value  in  a  stamp  collection  of  pairs 
and  blocks,  proofs  and  essays,  of  documental  matter, 
and  also  that  too  much  has  been  demanded  in  the 
matter  of  condition.  But  all  these  things  are  of 
greater  importance  than  is  realised  by  even  the 
majority  of  members  of  the  philatelic  societies. 
Condition  in  particular  is  a  factor  which,  if  dis- 
regarded, will  not  only  result  in  the  formation  of 
an  unsatisfactory  collection,  but  will  lessen,  if  not 


PREFACE  9 

ruin,  the  collection  as  an  investment.  It  has  been 
thought  that  as  time  passed  on  the  exacting  require- 
ments of  condition  would  have  to  be  relaxed  through 
the  gradual  absorption  of  fine  copies  of  old  stamps 
in  great  collections.  The  effect  has,  however,  been 
simply  to  raise  the  prices  of  old  stamps  in  perfect 
condition.  It  may  be  taken  as  a  general  precept 
that  a  stamp  in  fine  condition  at  a  high  price  is  a  far 
better  investment  than  a  stamp  in  poor  condition  at 
any  price. 

In  preparing  the  illustrations  for  this  volume  I  am 
indebted  to  several  collectors  and  dealers,  chiefly  to 
Mr.  W.  H.  Peckitt,  who  has  lent  me  some  of  the  fine 
items  from  the  "Avery"  collection,  to  Messrs.  Stanley 
Gibbons,  Ltd.,  whose  name  is  as  a  household  word  to 
stamp-collectors  all  over  the  world,  and  to  Messrs. 
Charles  Nissen,  D.  Field,  and  Herbert  F.  Johnson. 

I  should  also  be  omitting  a  very  important  duty  if 
I  failed  to  acknowledge  the  general  readiness  of 
collectors,  and  especially  of  my  colleagues  the 
members  of  the  Junior  Philatelic  Society  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  in  keeping  me  constantly  au 
courant  with  new  information  connected  with  the 
pursuit  of  Philately.  Without  such  assistance  in 
the  past,  this  work,  and  the  score  of  others  which 
have  come  from  my  pen,  could  never  have  been 
undertaken  ;  and  perhaps  the  best  token  of  my 
appreciation  of  so  many  kindnesses  will  be  to  beg 
(as  I  now  do)  the  favour  of  their  continuance  in 
the  future. 

FRED  J.  MELVILLE. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

PREFACE  .  .  .  .  .  .7 

PHILATELIC   TERMS  .  .  .  .  .21 

CHAPTER   I 

THE  GENESIS   OF  THE   POST        .  .  .  -55 

The  earliest  letter-carriers — The  Roman  posita — Princely 
Postmasters  of  Thurn  and  Taxis — Sir  Brian  Tuke — Hobson 
of  **Hobson's  Choice  "—The  General  Letter  Office  of 
England — Dockwra's  Penny  Post  of  1680 — Povey's  •'  Half- 
penny Carriage  " — The  Edinburgh  and  other  Penny  Posts — 
Postal  rates  before  1840 — Uniform  Penny  Postage — The 
Postage  Stamp  regarded  as  the  royal  diplomata — The  growth 
of  the  postal  business. 

CHAPTER   n 
THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   AN    IDEA  .  .  -77 

Early  instances  of  contrivances  to  denote  prepayment  of 
postage — The  '*  Tyio-Sous  "  Post — Billets  de  port  pay^ — A 
passage  of  wit  between  the  French  Sappho  and  M.  Pellisson 
— Dockwra's  letter-marks — Some  fabulous  stamped  wrappers 
of  the  Dutch  Indies — Letter-sheets  used  in  Sardinia — Lieut. 
Treffenberg's  proposals  for  '*  Postage  Charts  "  in  Sweden — 
The  postage-stamp  idea  "in  the  air" — Early  British  re- 
formers and  their  proposals — The  Lords  of  the  Treasury  start 
a  competition — Mr.  Cheverton's  prize  plan — A  find  of  papers 
11 


12  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

relating  to  the  contest — A  square  inch  of  gummed  paper — 
The  Sydney  embossed  envelopes — The  Mulready  envelope — 
The  Parliamentary  envelopes — The  adhesive  stamp  popularly 
preferred  to  the  Mulready  envelope. 


CHAPTER  III 
SOME   EARLY    PIONEERS    OF    PHILATELY  .  .113 

"  Hobbyhorsical  "  collections — The  application  of  the  term 
*' Foreign  Stamp  Collecting" — The  Stamp  Exchange  in 
Birchin  Lane  —  A  celebrated  lady  stamp-dealer  —  The 
Saturday  rendezvous  at  the  All  Hallows  Staining  Rectory 
— Prominent  collectors  of  the  first  period — The  first  stamp 
catalogues  —  The  words  Philately  and  Timbrolo^e  — 
Philatelic  periodicals — ^Justin  Lallier's  albums- The  Phi- 
latelic Society,  London. 


CHAPTER  IV 
ON    FORMING   A   COLLECTION      .  .  .  -133 

The  cost  of  packet  collections — The  beginner's  album — 
Accessories — Preparation  of  stamps  for  mounting — The 
requirements  of  "  condition  " — The  use  of  the  stamp-hinge 
— A  suggestion  for  the  ideal  mount — A  handy  gauge  for  use 
in  arranging  stamps — "  Writing-up."- 


CHAPTER    V 
THE   SCOPE  OF   A    MODERN   COLLECTION  .  -151 

The  historical  collection  :  literary  and  philatelic — The  quest 
for  rariora — The  "  grangerising  "  of  philatelic  monographs  : 
its  advantages  and  possibilities — Historic  documents — Pro- 
posals and  essays — Original  drawings — Sources  of  stamp- 
engravings — Proofs  and  trials — Comparative  rarity  of  some 
stamps  in  pairs,  &c.,  or  on  original  envelopes — Coloured 
postmarks — Portraits,  maps,  'and  contemporary  records — A 
lost  opportunity. 


CONTENTS  13 

CHAPTER  VI 

PAGE 

ON   LIMITING   A   COLLECTION      .  .  .  -197 

The  difficulties  of  a  general  collection — The  unconscious 
trend  to  specialism — Technical  limitations  :  Modes  of  pro- 
duction ;  Printers — Geographical  groupings :  Europe  and 
divisions — Suggested  groupings  of  British  Colonies — United 
States,  Protectorates  and  Spheres  of  Influence — Islands  of 
the  Pacific  —  The  financial  side  of  the  "great"  philatelic 
ceuntries. 


CHAPTER  VII 

STAMP-COLLECTING   AS    AN    INVESTMENT  .  .    209 

The  collector,  the  dealer,  and  the  combination — The  factor 
of  expense — Natural  rise  of  cost — Past  possibilities  in  British 
"Collector's  Consols,"  in  Barbados,  in  British  Guiana,  in 
Canada,  in  "Capes"  —  Modern  speculations:  Cayman 
Islands — Further  investments :  Ceylon,  Cyprus,  Fiji  Times 
Express,  Gambia,  India,  Labuan,  West  Indies — The  "  Post 
Office  "  Mauritius — The  early  Nevis,  British  North  America, 
Sydney  Views,  New  Zealand — Provisionals  :  bond  fide  and 
speculative — Some  notable  appreciations — "  Booms." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FORGERIES,    FAKES,   AND    FANCIES  .  .  237 

Early  counterfeits    and    their    exposers The  "honest" 

facsimile — "Album  Weeds" — Forgeries  classified — Frauds 
on  the  British  Post  Office — Forgeries  "paying"  postage — 
The  One  Rupee,  India — Fraudulent  alteration  of  values — 
The  British  los.  and  £\  "Anchor" — A  too-clever  "fake" 
— ^Joined  pairs — Drastic  tests — New  South  Wales  "Views" 
and  "Registered" — The  Swiss  Cantonals — Government 
"  imitations  " — "  Bogus  "  stamps. 


14  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IX 

PAGE 

FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS    .  .  .  ,  .    261 

The  "mania"  in  the 'sixties — Some  wonderful  early  collec- 
tions— The  first  auction  sale  —  Judge  Philbrick  and  his 
collection — The  Image  collection — Lord  Crawford's  "United 
States"  and  '* Great  Britain" — Other  great  modern  collec- 
tions— M.  la  Renotiere's  "  legions  of  stamps  " — Synopsis  01 
sales  of  collections. 


CHAPTER   X 

ROYAL   AND   NATIONAL   COLLECTIONS      .  .  .    303 

The  late  Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha  as  a  collector — King 
George's  stamps :  Great  Britain,  Mauritius,  British  Guiana, 
Barbados,  Nevis — The  "  King  of  Spain  Reprints  " — The  late 
Grand  Duke  Alexis  Michaelovitch — Prince  Doria  Pamphilj 
—The  "Tapling"  Collection— The  Berlin  Postal  Museum 
— The  late  Duke  of  Leinster's  bequest  to  Ireland — Mr. 
Worthington's  promised  gift  to  the  United  States. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY    ......    333 


INDEX    .  .  .  .  .  .  .351 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT 

PAGE 

Perforation  Gauge  .  .  .  .  .  .  •     43 

The  Commemorative  Letter  Balance  designed  by  Mr.  S.  King,  o- 
Bath  (1840).  A  monument  "which  may  be  possessed  by 
every  family  in  the  United  Kingdom  "  .  .  .72 

Mr.  King's  Letter  Balance  had  a  tripod  base,  as  in  the  uppermost 
figure,  thus  affording  three  tablets  on  which  the  associations 
of  J.  Palmer,  Rowland  Hill,  and  Queen  Victoria  with  postal 
reform  are  recorded       .  .  .  .  .  -73 

A  Facsimile  of  the  Address  Side  of  a  Penny  Post  Letter  in  1686, 
showing  the  **  Peny  Post  Payd  "  mark  instituted  by  Dockwra 
and  continued  by  the  Government  authorities  .  .  '83 

Facsimile  of  the  Contents  of  the  Penny  Post  Letter  of  1686  .     84 

The  Official  Notification  of  December  3,  18 18,  relating  to  the  use 
of  the  Sardinian  Letter  Sheets.  Described  in  the  records  of 
the  Schroeder  collection  as  "the  oldest  official  notification  of 
any  country  in  the  world  relating  to  postage-stamps  " .  .86 

{Continuation  from  previous  page.)  The  models  show  the 
devices  for  the  three  denominations  :  15,  25,  and  50  centesimi 
respectively       .  .  .  .  .  .  '87 

Proof  of  the  Mulready  Envelope,  signed  by  Rowland  Hill.  (From 
the  "Peacock"  Papers)  .  .  .  .  .111 

Gauge  for  Arranging  Stamps  in  a  Blank  Album      .  .  .  144 

15 


16  LIST    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGB 

Autograph  Letter  from  Rowland  Hill  to  John  Dickinson,  the 
paper-maker,  asking  for  six  or  eight  sheets  of  the  silk-thread 
paper  for  trial  impressions  of  the  adhesive  stamps        .  .  164 

Original  Sketch  for  the  '•  Canoe  "  Type  of  Fiji  Stamps      .  .  169 

A  Postal  Memento  of  New  Zealand's  '*  Universal  Penny  Postage," 
January  i,  1901  ......  190 

The  First  Postage  Stamp  of  the  present  reign,  together  with  the 

Post  Office  notice  concerning  its  issue  on  November  4,  1910  .  193 

The  Official  Notice  of  the  Issue  of  the  New  Stamps  of  Great 
Britain  for  the  reign  of  King  George  V.  .  .  .  195 


LIST  OF   PLATES 

Sir  Rowland  Hill.     (From  the  painting  by  J.  A.  Vinter,  R.A.,  in 

the  National  Portrait  Gallery)  ....  Frontispiece 

Examples  of  some  Philatelic  Terms  : — A  Pair  of  Great  Britain 
embossed  Sixpence. — A  Pair  of  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
Triangular  Shilling. — A  Block  of  four  Great  Britain  Penny 
Red.— A  Strip  of  three  Grenada  **  4d."  on  Two  Shillings      .     25 

Examples  of  some  Philatelic  Terms:  —  The  figures  "201" 
indicate  the  Plate  Number ,  and  "  238  "  the  Current  Number. 
The  Plate  Number  is  also  on  each  of  these  stamps  in  micro- 
scopic numerals. — Corner  pair  showing  Current  Number 
"  575  "  in  margin. — Corner  pair  showing  Plate  Number  **  15" 
in  margin.  The  Plate  Number  is  also  seen  in  small  figures  on 
each  stamp. — The  above  stamps  are  those  of  Great  Britain 
overprinted  for  use  in  Cyprus    .  .  .  .  .29 

Examples  of  some  Philatelic  Terms  : — A  sheet  of  stamps  of 
Gambia,  composed  of  two  Panes  of  sixty  stamps  each. — The 
single  "  Crown  and  CA  "  watermark,  as  it  appears  looking 
from  the  back  of  the  Gambia  sheet  illustrated  above.  The 
watermark  is  arranged  in  panes  to  coincide  with  the  im- 
pressions from  the  plate  .  .  .  .  '33 

Examples  of  some  Philatelic  Terms  : — A  "  Bisect,"  or  "  Bisected 
Provisional."     The  One  Penny  stamp  of  Jamaica  was  in  186 1 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  17 

PAGE 

permitted  to  be  cut  in  halves  diagonally,  and  each  half  used  as 
a  halfpenny  stamp  .  .  .  .  '37 

Examples  of  some  Philatelic  Terms  : — Photograph  of  a  flat  steel 
die  engraved  in  taille  dotue  [i.e.^  with  the  lines  of  the  design 
cut  into  the  plate).  The  stamp  is  the  50  lepta  of  Greece,  issue 
of  1 90 1,  showing  Hermes  adapted  from  the  Mercury  of 
Giovanni  da  Bologna  .  .  .  .  .  'Si 

Scarce  Pamphlet  (first  page)  in  which  William  Dockwra  announces 
the  Penny  Post  of  1680  .  .  .  .  .65 

A  Post  Office  in  1790  .  .  .  .  .  .69 

Sardinian  Letter  Sheet  of  1818:  15  centesimi.— The  25  centesimi 
Letter  Sheet  of  Sardinia.  Issued  in  Sardinia,  1818;  the 
earliest  use  of  Letter  Sheets  with  embossed  stamps     .        .     89 

The  highest  denomination,  50  centesimi,  of  the  Sardinian  Letter 
Sheets. — One  of  the  temporary  envelopes  issued  for  the  use 
of  members  of  the  House  of  Lords,  prior  to  the  issue  of 
stamps  and  covers  to  the  public,  1840  .  .  -93 

The  "James  Chalmers  "  Essay. — Rough  sketches  in  water-colours 
submitted  by  Rowland  Hill  to  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  for  the  first  postage  stamps  .  .  -99 

Hitherto  unpublished  examples  of  the  proposals  submitted  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Treasury  in  1839  in  competition  for  prizes 
offered  in  connection  with  the  Penny  Postage  plan.  (From 
the  Author's  Collection)  .....  103 

The  address  side  of  the  model  letter  which  has  the  stamp  (shown 
below)  affixed  to  the  back  as  a  seal. — Another  of  the 
unpublished  essays  submitted  in  the  competition  of  1839  for 
the  Penny  Postage  plan.     (From  the  Author's  Collection)       .  107 

A  Postage  Stamp  "Chart" — one  of  the  early  forms  of  stamp- 
collecting  .  .  .  .  .  .  .119 

The  small  "experimental"  plate  from  which  impressions  of  the 
Two  Pence,  Great  Britain,  were  made  on  "Dickinson" 
paper.  Only  two  rows  of  four  stamps  were  impressed  on 
each  piece  of  the  paper,     ((y.  next  plate)        .  .  -157 

The  Two  Pence,  Great  Britain,  on  * '  Dickinson  "  paper.  The  upper 
block  is  in  red  (24  stamps  printed  in  all,  of  which  nine  copies 
are  known),  and  the  lower  block  in  blue  (16  stamps  printed. 


18  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


of  which  twelve  copies  are  known).  The  above  blocks  of  six 
each  are  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Lewis  Evans  ;  the  pairs  cut 
from  the  left  side  of  each  block  were  in  the  collection  of  the 
late  Mrs.  John  Evans   ......  i6l 

One  of  the  rough  pencil  sketches  by  W.  Mulready,  R.A.,  for  the 
envelope.  The  "flying"  figures  are  not  shown  in  this 
sketch  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .165 

Engraver's  proof  of  the  Queen's  head  die  for  the  first  adhesive 
postage  stamps,  with  note  in  the  handwriting  of  Edward 
Henry  Corbould  attributing  the  engraving  to  Frederick 
Heath  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .173 

An  exceptional  block  of  twenty  unused  One  Penny  black  stamps, 
lettered  *'  V  R"  in  the  upper  corners  for  official  use.  (From 
the  collection  of  the  late  Sir  William  Avery,  Bart.)     .  .   177 

An  envelope  bearing  the  rare  stamp  issued  in  1846  by  the 
Postmaster  of  Millbury,  Massachusetts. — One  of  the  stamps 
issued  by  the  Postmaster  of  Baton  Rouge,  Louisiana,  during 
the  Civil  War,  1861      .  .  .  .  .  .  iSl 

Another  of  the  Confederate  States  rarities  issued  by  the  Postmaster 
of  Goliad,  Texas.— The  stamp  issued  by  the  Postmaster  of 
Livingston,  Alabama.     (From  the  "  Avery  "  Collection)         .  183 

The  One  Penny  **  Post  Office  "  Mauritius  on  the  original  letter- 
cover.    (From  the  "  Duveen "  Collection)       .  .  .187 

A  roughly  printed  card  showing  the  designs  and  colours  for  the 
Unified  '  *  Postage  and  Revenue  "  stamps  of  Great  Britain, 
1884 191 

The  King's  copy  of  the  Two  Pence  **Post  Office"  Mauritius 
stamp. — The  magnificent  unused  copies  of  the  One  Penny  and 
Two  Pence  "  Post  Office "  Mauritius  stamps  acquired  by 
Henry  J.  Duveen,  Esq.,  out  of  the  collection  formed  by  the 
late  Sir  William  Avery,  Bart.  .....  22$ 

The  famous  *•  Stock  Exchange  "  Forgery  of  the  One  Shilling  green 
stamp  of  Great  Britain. — A  Genuine  "Plate  6." — One 
specimen  was  used  on  October  31,  1872,  and  the  other  on 
June  13  of  the  next  year.  The  enlargements  betray  trifling 
differences  in  the  details  of  the  design,  as  compared  with  the 
genuine  stamp  above    ......  245 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  19 

PAGB 

The  unique  envelope  of  Annapolis  (Maryland,  U.S.A.)  in  Lord 
Crawford's  collection  of  stamps  of  the  United  States   .  .  279 

Part  sheet  (175  stamps)  of  the  ordinary  One  Penny  black  stamp  of 
Great  Britain,  1840.  (From  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of 
Crawford,  K.T.)  .  .  .  .  .  .283 

Nearly  a  complete  sheet  (219  stamps  out  of  240)  of  the  highly 
valued  One  Penny  black  "  V  R  "  stamp,  intended  for  official 
use.     (From  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of  Crawford,  K.T.)      .285 

Part  sheet  (lacking  but  six  horizontal  rows)  of  the  scarce  Two 
Pence  blue  stamp  "without  white  lines"  issued  in  Great 
Britain,  1840.  (From  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of 
Crawford,  K.T.)  .  .  .  .  .  .287 

The  unique  block  of  the  "  double  Geneva  "  stamp,  the  rarest  of 
the  Swiss  "  Cantonals."  (Formerly  in  the  "  Avery  "  Collec- 
tion, now  in  the  possession  of  Henry  J.  Duveen,  Esq.)  .  291 

Part  sheet  of  the  scarce  5c.  "  Large  Eagle  "  stamp  of  Geneva, 
showing  the  marginal  inscription  at  the  top.  (From  the 
collection  of  Henry  J.  Duveen,  Esq.)    ....  293 

A  Page  of  the  5  cents,  and  13  cents.  Hawaiian  "  Missionary  " 
stamps.     (From  the  "  Crocker "  Collection)    .  .  .297 

Hawaiian  Islands,  1851.  The  5  cents  "Missionary"  stamp  on 
original  envelope.     (From  the  "  Crocker  "  Collection)  .  299 

A  Page  from  the  King's  historic  collection  of  the  stamps  of 
Great  Britain,  showing  the  method  of  "writing  up"  .  307 

The  three  copies  of  the  unissued  2d.  "  Tyrian-plum  "  stamp  of 
Great  Britain,  in  the  collection  of  H.  M.  the  King.  The  one 
on  the  envelope  is  the  only  specimen  known  to  have 
passed  through  the  post  .....  309 

Design  for  the  King  Edward  One  Penny  stamp,  approved  and 
initialled  by  His  late  Majesty.  (From  the  collection  of 
H.M.  King  George  V.)  .  ,  .  .  .  313 

The  companion  design  to  that  on  ps^e  313,  and  showing  the 
correct  pose  of  the  head,  but  in  a  different  frame  which  was 
not  adopted.     (From  the  collection  of  H.M.  the  King)  .  315 

A  Page  of  the  One  Penny  "  Post  Paid  "  stamps  of  Mauritius.  (In 
the  collection  of  H.M.  the  King)  ....  319 

2 


20  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


The  Two  Pence  *♦  Post  Paid  "  stamp  of  Mauritius.  Unique  block 
showing  the  error  (the  first  stamp  in  the  illustration),  lettered 
"  Penoe  »  for  *•  Pence  ".  (In  the  collection  of i  H.M.  the 
King) 323 

A  specimen  page  rom  the  "Tapling"  Collection  at  the  British 
Museum.  Probably  the  most  valuable  page,  showing  the 
Hawaiian  "Missionaries."  The  two  stamps  at  the  top  have 
been  removed  from  the  cases  and  are  now  kept  in  a  safe  in  the 
" Cracherode '*  Room.  .....  327 


PHILATELIC 
TERMS 


PHILATELIC  TERMS 

Albino. — An  impression  made  either  from  an  uninked 
embossing  die,  or  from  a  similar  inked  die,  under 
which  two  pieces  of  paper  have  been  simul- 
taneously placed,  only  the  upper  one  receiving 
the  colour. 

Aniline. — A  term  strictly  applicable  to  coal-tar 
colours,  but  commonly  used  for  brilliant  tones 
very  soluble  in  water. 

B4tonn6. — See  Paper. 

Bisect. — A  term  applied  to  a  moiety  of  a  stamp,  used 
as  of  half  the  value  of  the  entire  label. 

Bleut6. — This  word  implies  that  the  blueness  of  the 
paper  has  been  acquired  since  the  stamp  was 
printed,  as  the  result  of  chemical  action. 

Block. — An  unsevered  group  of  stamps,  consisting  of 
at  least  two  horizontal  rows  of  two  each. 

Bogus. — An  expression  applied  to  any  stamp  not 
designed  for  use. 

Burel6. — A  fine  network  forming  part  of  design  of 
stamp,  or  covering  the  front  or  back  of  entire 
sheet. 

Cancelled  to  order. — Stamps  which,  though  postmarked 
or  otherwise  obliterated,  have  not  done  postal  or 
fiscal  duty. 


24  PHILATELIC  TERMS 

Centimetre  (cm.). — The  one  -  hundredth  part  of  a 
metre  =  '3937  inch. 

Chalky,  or  chalk-surfaced. — Before  being  used  for 
printing,  paper  sometimes  has  its  surface  coated 
with  a  preparation  largely  composed  of  chalk  or 
similar  substance :  this  renders  the  print  liable 
to  rub  off  if  wetted  ;  and,  in  combination  with  a 
doubly-fugitive  ink,  renders  fraudulent  cleaning 
practically  impossible. 

Cliche. — The  ultimate  production  from  the  die,  and  of 
a  number  of  which  the  printing  plate  is  com- 
posed. 

Colour  trials. — Impressions  taken  in  various  colours 
from  a  plate,  so  that  a  selection  may  be  made. 

Comb  machine. — A  variety  of  perforating  machine, 
which  produces,  at  each  descent  of  the  needles, 
a  line  of  holes  along  a  horizontal  (or  vertical) 
row  of  stamps,  and  a  short  line  of  holes  down 
the  two  sides  (or  top  and  bottom)  of  each  stamp 
in  that  horizontal  (or  vertical)  row.  And  see 
Perforation. 

Commemoratives. — A  term  applied  to  labels  issued 
chiefly  for  sale  to  collectors,  and  commemorating 
the  contemporaneous  happening,  or  the  anni- 
versary, centenary,  &c.,  of  some  often  unim- 
portant or  almost  forgotten  event. 

Compound. — See  Perforation. 

Control. — An  arbitrary  letter  or  number,  or  both, 
printed  on  the  margin  of  a  sheet  of  stamps,  for 
facilitating  a  check  on  the  supply.  Also  used  to 
denote  a  design  overprinted  on  a  stamp  {e,g, 
Persia,  1899)  as  a  protection  against  forgery. 


A  Pair  of  Great  Britain  embossed  Six  Pence. 


A  Pair  of- Cape  of  Good  Hope 
Triangular  Shilling, 


A  Block  of  four  Great  Britain 
Penny  Ked. 


■J^-: 


'mW- 


IT. 


Xi3Dra3VEc:  Sl3riI33a5Ci:-  [Lr«I:T€aCt'13r 


A  strip  of  three  Grenada  "4d."  on  Two  Shillings. 

EXAMPLES   OF   SOME   PHILATELIC   TERMS. 

25 


PHILATELIC  TERMS  27 

Current  number. — The  consecutive  number  of  a  plate, 
irrespective  of  the  denomination  of  the  stamp. 

Cut-outs. — A  term  used  to  denote  the  impressions, 
originally  part  of  envelopes,  postcards,  &c.,  but 
cut  off  for  use  as  ordinary  stamps. 

Cut-squares. — Stamps  cut  from  envelopes,  &c.,  with  a 
rectangular  margin  of  paper  attached,  are  known 
as  "cut-squares." 

Dickinson  paper. — See  Paper. 

Die. — The  original  engraving  from  which  the  printing 
plates  are  produced ;  or,  sometimes,  from  which 
the  stamps  are  printed  direct.  See  Plate  and 
Embossed. 

Doubly-fugitive. — See  Fugitive. 

Double-print. — Strictly  applicable  to  two  similar  im- 
pressions, more  or  less  coincident,  on  the  same 
piece  of  paper ;  though  often,  but  erroneously, 
applied  to  instances  where  the  paper,  not  being 
firmly  held,  has  touched  the  plate,  so  receiving  a 
partial  impression,  and  then,  resuming  its  correct 
position,  has  been  properly  printed. 

Duty-plate. — Many  modern  stamps  are  printed  from 
two  plates,  one  being  the  same  (key-plate,  which 
see)  for  all  the  values,  but  the  other  differing  for 
each  denomination  :  this  latter  is  the  duty-plate. 

Electro. — A  reproduction  of  the  original  die,  made  by 
means  of  a  galvanic  battery  from  a  secondary 
die.     See  Matrix. 

Embossed. — Stamps  produced  from  a  die,  or  reproduc- 
tions thereof,  on  which  the  design  is  cut  to 
varying  depths,  are  necessarily  in  relief,  ?>., 
embossed.     And  see  Printing. 


28  PHILATELIC  TERMS 

Engraved. — The  term  is  often  used  to  denote  stamps 
printed  direct  from  a  plate,  on  which  the  lines  of 
the  design  are  cut  into  the  metal.  And  see 
Printing. 

Entires. — This  expression  includes  not  only  postal 
stationery  (which  see),  but  when  used  in  de- 
scribing an  adhesive  stamp,  as  being  "  on  entire," 
implies  that  the  stamp  is  on  the  envelope  or 
letter  as  when  posted. 

Envelope  stamp. — A  stamp  belonging  to,  and  printed 
on,  an  envelope. 

Error.  — An  incorrect  stamp — either  in  design,  colour, 
paper,  &c.— which  has  been  issued  for  use. 

Essay. — A  rejected  design  for  a  stamp ;  in  the 
French  sense  also  applied  to  proofs  of  accepted 
designs. 

Pacsimile. — A  euphemism  for  a  forgery. 

Fake. — A  genuine  stamp,  which  has  been  manipulated 
in  order  to  increase  its  philatelic  or  postal 
value. 

Fiscal. — A  stamp  intended  for  payment  of  a  duty  or 
tax,  as  distinguished  from  postage. 

Flap  ornament. — This  refers  to  the  ornament  (usually) 
embossed  on  the  tip  of  the  upper  flap  of 
envelopes,  and  variously  termed  Rosace  or  Tresse, 
or  (incorrectly)  Patte,  which  see. 

Fugitive. — Colours  printed  in  "  singly-fugitive  "  ink 
suffer  on  an  attempt  to  remove  an  ordinary  ink 
cancellation  ;  but  if  in  "  doubly-fugitive "  ink  it 
was  thought  that  the  removal  of  writing-mV 
would  injure  the  appearance  of  the  stamp.  And 
see  Chalky. 


ir/k^iHtrr  fh  irn-m-r  th*  ^mifnt.   (201) 

r.8 


The  figures  "  201  "  indicate  the  Plate  Number, 
and  "238"  the  Current  Number.  The  Plate 
Number  is  also  on  each  of  these  stamps  in 
microscopic  numerals. 


i 


2ri^  M 


®'2¥'i 


CYPRUS    CYPRUS; 


Corner  pair  showing  Current   Number 
"575"  in  margin. 


Corner  pair  showing  Plate  Number  "  15  " 
margin.  The  Plate  Number  is  also  se* 
in  small  figures  on  each  stamp. 

The  above  stamps  are  those  of  Great  Britain  overprinted  for  use  in  Cyprus. 


EXAMPLES  OF  SOME   PHILATELIC  TERMS. 


PHILATELIC  TERMS  31 

Generalising. — The  collecting  of  all  the  postage-stamps 
of  the  world. 

Government  imitation. — Sometimes,  when  it  is  desired 
to  reprint  an  obsolete  issue,  the  original  dies  or 
plates  are  not  forthcoming.  New  dies  have,  in 
these  circumstances,  been  officially  made,  and 
the  resulting  labels  are  euphemistically  called 
"Government  imitations."  "Forgeries"  would 
be  more  candid. 

Granite. — See  Paper. 

Grille. — Small  plain  dots,  generally  arranged  in  a 
small  rectangle,  but  sometimes  covering  the 
entire  stamp,  embossed  on  certain  issues  of  Peru 
and  the  United  States.  The  idea  of  this  was  to 
so  break  up  the  fibre  of  the  paper,  as  to  allow 
the  ink  of  the  postmark  to  penetrate  it  and 
render  cleaning  impossible. 

Guillotine. — The  term  used  to  define  a  perforating- 
machine  which  punches  a  single  straight  line  of 
holes  at  each  descent  of  the  needles. 

Gumpap. — A  fancy  term  of  opprobrium  applied  to  a 
stamp  issued  purely  for  sale  to  collectors  and 
not  to  meet  a  postal  requirement. 

Hair-line. — Originally  used  to  indicate  the  fine  line 
crossing  the  outer  angles  of  the  corner  blocks 
of  some  British  stamps,  inserted  to  distinguish 
impressions  from  certain  plates,  this  term  is 
now  often  employed  to  denote  any  fine  line, 
in  white  or  in  colour,  and  whether  intentional 
or  accidental,  which  may  be  found  on  a 
stamp. 

Hand-made. — See  Paper. 


32  PHILATELIC  TERMS 

Harrow. — The  form  of  perforating-machine  which  is 
capable  of  operating  on  an  entire  sheet  of 
stamps  at  each  descent  of  the  needles.  And  see 
Perforation. 

Head-plate. — See  Key-plate. 

Imperforate. — Stamps  which  have  not  been  perforated 
or  rouletted  (both  of  which  see)  are  thus  described. 

Imprimatur. — A  word  usually  found  in  conjunction 
with  "  sheet,"  when  it  indicates  the  first  impres- 
sion from  a  plate  endorsed  with  an  official 
certificate  to  that  effect,  and  a  direction  that  the 
plate  be  used  for  printing  stamps. 

Imprint. — The  name  of  the  printer,  whether  below 
each  stamp,  or  only  on  the  margin  of  the  sheet, 
is  called  the  "  imprint." 

Inverted. — Simply  upside-down.     And  see  Reversed. 

Irregular. — See  Perforation. 

"Jubilee"  line. — Since  1887,  the  year  of  Queen 
Victoria's  first  Jubilee — whence  the  name — a 
line  of  "  printer's  rule "  has  been  added  round 
each  pane,  or  plate,  of  most  surface-printed 
British  and  British  Colonial  stamps,  in  order  to 
protect  the  edges  of  the  outer  rows  of  cliches 
from  undue  wear  and  tear.  The  "  rule  "  shows 
as  a  coloured  line  on  the  sheets  of  stamps. 

Key-plate. — Stamps  of  the  same  design,  when  printed 
in  two  colours,  require  two  plates  for  each  value ; 
that  which  prints  the  design  (apart  from  the 
value,  and  sometimes  the  name  of  the  country), 
and  is  common  to  and  used  for  two  or  more 
stamps,  is  termed  the  head-plate  or  key-plate. 
And  see  Duty-plate. 


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sixty  stamps  each. 


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The  single  "  Crown  and  CA  "  watermark  as  it  appears  looking 
from  the  hack  of  the  Gambia  sheet  illustrated  above.     The 
watermark    is    arranged    in   panes   to   coincide    with    the 


PHILATELIC  TERMS  35 

B^nife. — This  is  a  technical  term  for  the  cutter  of  the 
machine  which  cuts  out  the  (unfolded)  envelope 
blank,  and  is  principally  used  in  connection  with 
the  numerous  varieties  of  shape  in  the  United 
States  envelopes,  amongst  which  the  same  size 
may  show  several  variations  in  the  flap. 

Laid. — See  Paper. 

Laid  batonn^. — See  Paper. 

Line-engraved. — Is  properly  applied  to  a  print  from  a 
plate  engraved  in  taille  douce  (which  see)  but  is 
often  applied  to  the  plate  itself 

Lithographed. — Stamps  printed  from  a  design  laid 
down  on  a  stone  and  neither  raised  nor  de- 
pressed in  the  printing  lines  are  denoted  by 
this  term.     And  see  Printing. 

Locals. — Stamps  having  a  franking  power  within  a 
definitely  restricted  area. 

Manila. — See  Paper. 

Matrix. — A  counterpart  impression  in  metal  or  other 
material  from  an  original  die,  and  which  in  its 
turn  is  used  to  produce  copies  exactly  similar  to 
the  original  die. 

Millimetre  (mm.). — The  one  -  thousandth  part  of  a 
metre  =  '03937  inch. 

Mill-sheet. — See  Sheet. 

Mint. — A  term  used  to  denote  that  a  stamp  or 
envelope,  &c.,  is  in  exactly  the  same  condition  as 
when  issued  by  the  post-office — unused,  clean, 
unmutilated  in  the  slightest  degree  and  with  all 
the  original  gum  undisturbed. 

Mixed  (Perforations). — In  some  of  the  190 1-7  stamps 
of  New  Zealand,  the  original  perforation  was  to 


36  PHILATELIC  TERMS 

some  extent  defective :  such  portions  of  the 
sheet  were  patched  with  strips  of  paper  on  the 
back  and  re-perforated,  usually  in  a  different 
gauge. 

Mounted. — Usually  applied  to  indicate  that  a  stamp, 
which  has  been  trimmed  close  to  the  design,  has 
had  new  margins  added.     And  see  Fake. 

Native-made  paper. — See  Paper. 

Obliteration. — A  general  term  used  for  any  mark 
employed  to  cancel  a  stamp  and  so  render  it 
incapable  of  further  use. 

Obsolete. — Strictly,  an  obsolete  stamp  is  one  which 
has  been  withdrawn  from  circulation  and  is  no 
longer  available  for  postal  use  ;  but  the  term  is 
often  applied  simply  to  old  issues,  no  longer  on 
sale  at  the  post-office. 

Original  die. — The  first  engraved  piece  of  metal,  from 
which  the  printing  plates  are  directly  or  indirectly 
produced. 

Original  gum. — Practically  all  stamps  were,  before 
issue,  gummed  on  the  back,  and  the  actual  gum 
so  applied  is  known  as  "  original " :  the  usual 
abbreviation  is  "  o.g." :  it  is  also  implied  in  the 
expression  "mint",  which  see. 

Overprint. — An  inscription  or  device  printed  upon  a 
stamp  additional  to  its  original  design.  Cf. 
Surcharge. 

Pair. — Two  stamps  joined  together  as  when  originally 
printed.  Without  qualification,  a  pair  is  generally 
accepted  as  being  of  two  stamps  side  by  side  :  if 
a  pair  of  two  stamps  joined  top  to  bottom  is 
intended,  it  is  spoken  of  as  a  vertical  pair. 


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37 


PHILATELIC  TERMS  39 

Pane. — Entire  sheets  of  stamps  are  frequently  divided 
into  sections  by  means  of  one  or  more  spaces 
running  horizontally  or  (and)  vertically  between 
similarly  sized  groups  of  stamps :  each  of  these 
sections  or  groups  is  termed  a  pane. 

Paper. — The  two  main  divisions  of  paper  are  hand- 
made and  machine-made  :  the  former  is  manu- 
factured, as  its  name  indicates,  by  hand,  sheet 
by  sheet,  by  means  of  a  special  apparatus ;  the 
latter  is  made  entirely  by  the  aid  of  machinery 
and  generally  in  long  continuous  rolls,  which  are 
afterwards  cut  up  as  required. 

Each  of  these,  apart  from  its  substance,  which 
may  vary  from  the  thinnest  of  tissue  papers  to 
almost  thin  card,  is  divisible  according  to  its 
texture,  distinguishable  on  being  held  up  to  the 
light,  into — 

Wove,  of  perfectly  plain  even  texture,  such  as  is 

generally  used  for  books. 
Laid :  this  shows  lines  close  together,  usually  with 

other  lines,  an   inch   or  so  apart,  crossing 

them — "  cream     laid  "     notepaper     is     an 

example. 
BI,tonn6  is  wove  paper,  with  very  distinct  lines 

as  wide  apart  as  those  on  ordinary  ruled 

paper. 
Laid  Mtonn^ :  similar  to  batonne,  but  the  spaces 

between  the  distinct  lines  are  filled  in  with 

laid  lines  close  together. 
Quadrille  paper  is  marked  with  small  squares  or 

oblongs. 


40  PHILATELIC  TERMS 

Eep  is  the  term  applied  to  wove  paper  which  has 
been  passed  between  ridged  rollers,  so  that 
it  becomes,  to  use  a  somewhat  exaggerated 
description,  corrugated  :  the  small  elevation 
or  ridge  on  one  side  of  the  paper  coincides 
with  a  depression  or  furrow  on  the  other 
side — the  thickness  of  the  paper  is  the  same 
throughout. 

Ribbed  paper,  on  the  other  hand,  is  different  from 
rep,  in  that  one  side  is  smooth  and  the 
other  is  in  alternate  furrows  and  ridges — 
the  paper  is  thinner  in  the  furrows  than  it 
is  on  the  ridges. 

Native  paper,  so  called,  is  yellowish  or  greyish, 
often  with  the  feel  and  appearance  of 
parchment ;  generally  laid  somewhat  irregu- 
larly, but  often  wove.  The  early  issues  of 
Cashmere  and  some  of  the  stamps  and 
cards  of  Nepal  are  printed  on  native  paper : 
it  is  always  hand-made. 

Pelure  is  a  very  thin,  hard,  tough  paper,  usually 
greyish  in  colour. 

Manila  is  a  strong,  light,  but  coarse  paper,  and 
is  used  for  wrappers,  large  envelopes,  &c. ; 
usually  it  is  smooth  on  one  side  and  rough 
on  the  other. 

Safety  paper  contains  ingredients  which  would 
make  it  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
remove  an  obliteration  in  writing-ink  with- 
out at  the  same  time  destroying  the  im- 
pression of  the  stamp  :  usually  this  paper  is 
more  or   less  blued,  owing  to  the   use  of 


PHILATELIC  TERMS  41 

prussiate  of  potash,  and  its  combination 
with  impurities  arising  in  the  manufacture. 

Granite  paper  is  almost  white,  with  short  coloured 
fibres  in  it,  sometimes  very  visible,  but  at 
others  necessitating  the  use  of  a  magnifying 
glass. 

Dickinson  paper,  so  called  from  its  inventor,  has 
a  continuous  thread,  or  parallel  threads,  of 
silk  in  the  centre  of  its  substance,  embedded 
there  in  the  pulp  at  an  early  stage  of  the 
manufacture. 

Paraphe  is  the  flourish  which  is  sometimes  added  at 
the  end  of  a  signature  :  examples  on  stamps  are 
found  in  the  1873-6  issues  of  Porto  Rico. 

Patte. — French  for  the  loose  flap  of  an  envelope ;  it  is 
sometimes  (but  incorrectly)  used  for  Rosace  or 
Tresse,  the  ornament  on  the  flap. 

Pelure. — See  Paper. 

Pen-cancelled  denotes  cancellation  by  pen-and-ink,  as 
opposed  to  the  more  customary  postmark ;  it 
usually  implies  fiscal  use. 

Perc^  is  a  French  term  denoting  slits  or  pricks,  no 
part  of  the  paper  being  removed,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  perforated,  in  which  small  discs  of 
paper  are  punched  out.  There  are  several  kinds 
of  pergage,  or,  in  English,  rouletting : — 

Perc6  en  arc,  the  cuts  being  curved,  so  that,  on 
severing  a  pair  of  stamps,  the  edge  of  one 
shows  small  arches,  whilst  the  other  has  a 
series  of  small  scallops,  something  like,  but 


42  PHILATELIC  TERMS 

more  curved  than,  the  perforations  on  the 
edges  of  an  ordinary  perforated  stamp. 

Perc6  en  ligne  :  the  cuts  or  slits  are  straight,  as  if  a 
continuous  line  had  been  broken  up  into 
small  sections.  This  variety  usually  goes 
by  the  English  term  rouletted. 

Perc^  en  pointe  denotes  that  the  slits  are  com- 
paratively large  and  cut  evenly  in  zigzag, 
so  that  the  edges  of  a  stamp  show  a  series 
of  equal-sided  triangular  projections. 

Perc6  en  points,  usually  expressed  as  pin-perforated, 
implies  a  pricking  of  holes  with  a  sharp 
point,  but  without  removal  of  paper,  which 
is  merely  pushed  aside. 

Perc6  en  scie  is  somewhat  similar  to  perc^  en 
pointe,  except  that  the  slits  are  smaller  and 
are  cut  in  uneven  zigzag  (alternately  long 
and  short),  so  that  the  edge  of  a  severed 
stamp  is  like  that  of  a  fine  saw. 

Perc6  en  serpentin  occurs  when  the  paper  is  cut  in 
comparatively  large  wavy  curves  of  varying 
depth,  with  little  breaks  in  the  cutting  which 
serve  to  hold  the  stamps  together. 

And  see  Perforated  and  Perforation. 

Perforated — in  French  piqu^.  This  word  implies 
removal  of  small  discs  of  paper,  not  simply  slits 
or  cuts.     And  see  Perc6. 

Perforation  is  either  "regular,"  where  the  number  of 
holes  within  a  similar  space  is  constant  along 
the  entire  row ;  or,  where  the  number  varies 
more  or  less,  "irregular."  The  gauge  of  the 
perforations  (or  roulettes)  of  a  stamp  is  measured 


PHILATELIC  TERMS 


43 


16 

15 

14 
13V« 


•  •9mm»f  %—•••• 


by  a  perforation-gauge,  a  piece  of  metal,  card,  or 
celluloid,  on  which  is  engraved  or  printed  a  long 
series  of  rows  of  dots,  each  row  being  two  centi- 
metres in    length    and    con- 
taining a  varying  number  of 
dots  from,  say,  6  to  17  or  1 8. 
A     stamp,    the     edge     of 
which     shows     holes     (per- 
forated)    corresponding     in 
spacing  and   number   to  the 
row   on  the  gauge   marked,    "" 
say  "  12,"  is  said  to  be  "per 
forated    12."      If  the   stamp    J^'T 
gauges  the  same  on  all  four 


•■■•••••»■••»• 


sides,  it  is  simply  "  perforated    ., 


im 


101 

to 

9\k 


8 

7Vz 

7 


" ;  if  the  top  and  bottom 
are    of  one    gauge,    say    12, 
and    the  sides,  say,    14,  the 
stamp  would    be    perforated    I 
"  12  X  14."       If    the    gauge    q^^ 
varies   on   each   of  the    four 
sides — an   unlikely  combina- 
tion— then     the     order     of 
noting  same  is,  top  (say  12),    ^y^ 
right  (say    11),   bottom  (say    5 
13),  and  left  (say  15) — "per-    ^y^ 
forated    I2x  11  x  13  x  15." 
In  the  above  the  gauges  are    perforation  gauge. 
supposed  to  be  regular. 

Should,  however,  the  gauge  be  irregular,  the 
extremes  are  noted  even  if  not  showing  on  the 
stamp :    for    instance,  a  stamp    may    be    per- 
3 


44  PHILATELIC  TERMS 

forated  with  a  machine,  which,  in  its  entire 
length,  gradually  varies  from  12  to  16  holes  in 
the  two  centimetres,  though  the  stamp  itself 
does  not  show  all  those  gauges.  Such  a  stamp 
would  be  "perforated  12  to  16." 

On  the  other  hand,  a  row  of  perforations, 
instead  of  gradually  altering  in  gauge,  may  do 
so  abruptly ;  for  instance,  along  a  row  of  holes, 
part  may  gauge  14,  the  next  part  16,  and  then 
1 6 J,  all  quite  distinct  over  a  particular  space. 
This  would  be  termed  "perforated  14,  16, 
1 6 J,"  implying  that  the  intermediate  gauges 
did  not  exist. 

The  use  of  a  regular  machine,  in  conjunction 
with  one  of  irregular  gauge,  might  produce, 
say,  "perforated  14"  (horizontally)  "  x  12  to 
15"  (vertically);  and  so  on. 

Stamps  perforated,  horizontally  and  vertically, 
by  differently  gauged  machines  are  sometimes 
said  to  be  "perforated,  compound  of  .  .  .  and 
.  .  .  ".  There  are  many  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  obtaining  a  full  knowledge  of  the  com- 
binations and  vagaries  of  perforating-machines. 

Perforation-gauge. — A  means  of  measuring  perforation 
or  roulette,  which  see. 

Philatelic. — The  adjective  of  Philately. 

Philatelist. — One  who  studies  stamps. 

Philately — from  two  Greek  words,  "  <piXog  "  (=  fond 
of)  and  ^^ariXEia"  (=  exemption  from  tax) — 
signifies  a  fondness  for  things  (vz'js.y  stamps) 
which  denote  an  exemption  from  tax,  i.e.,  that 
the  tax,  or  postage,  has  been  paid.    The  word 


PHILATELIC  TERMS  45 

is  a  little  far-fetched  to  imply  the  study  of 
stamps,  but  as  "Philately"  has  been  the  accepted 
term  for  over  forty  years,  "Philately"  it  will 
doubtless  remain,  even  if  some  one  succeeds  in 
finding  a  word  which  more  accurately  expresses 
the  popular  and  scientific  hobby. 

Pin-perforated. — See  Perc^. 

Plate  is  the  term  used,  not  always  quite  correctly, 
to  describe  the  ultimate  reproductions  from  the 
die  which  constitute  the  printing  surface  in  the 
manufacture  of  stamps  :  the  word  covers  not 
only  a  sheet  of  metal  with  stamps  engraved 
on  it,  but  also  a  group  of  cliches  or  a  forme  of 
printer's  type  and  even  a  lithographic  stone. 

Plate  number  is  the  consecutive  number  of  each  plate 
of  a  particular  value,  appearing  on  the  margin 
of  the  plates  and  (in  some  of  the  British  series) 
on  the  stamps  themselves. 

Postal-fiscal  is  a  fiscal  stamp  the  use  of  which  for 
postal  purposes  has  been  duly  authorised,  in 
contradistinction  to  a  "fiscal  postally  used,"  a 
use  which  has  been  tacitly  permitted  in  many 
countries. 

Postal  stationery,  i,e.^  envelopes,  postcards,  letter- 
cards,  wrappers,  telegram  forms,  &c. :  frequently 
termed  entires. 

Postmark. — The  official  obliteration  applied  to  a 
stamp  to  prevent  its  further  postal  use. 

Pre-cancelled. — Two  or  three  countries  have  adopted 
the  system,  to  save  time  in  the  post-office,  of 
supplying  sheets  of  stamps  cancelled  prior  to 
use.    This    may    be    a    convenience,    but    the 


46  PHILATELIC  TERMS 

practice  undoubtedly  opens  the  door  to  pos- 
sible  fraud. 

Print  is  an  impression  taken  from  any  die,  plate, 
forme,  or  stone. 

Printing,  in  its  fullest  sense,  is  reproducing  from  a  die, 
plate,  stereotype,  &c.  (all  of  which  see).  There 
are,  on  this  definition,  four  kinds  of  production : 
"  Embossing,"  where  the  paper  is  impressed 
with  a  raised  design,  by  pressure  from  a  cut- 
out die  (see  Embossed) ;  "  Surface-printing  "  or 
"  typography,"  where  the  portions  of  the  plate 
which  receive  the  ink  and  print  the  design 
are  raised :  this  process  causes  a  slight  indenta- 
tion on  the  surface  of  the  paper  and  a  corre- 
sponding elevation  at  the  back  ;  "  Printing  direct 
from  plate  "  (so-called  Line-engraved,  which  see), 
in  which  the  portions  to  be  inked  are  recessed  : 
in  this  process,  the  printed  design  on  the  stamps 
is  in  very  slight  relief,  due  to  the  ink  being 
taken  from  the  recessed  engraving.  "Litho- 
graphy" is  printing  from  a  stone,  on  which 
the  design  has  been  drawn  or  otherwise  laid 
down  :  impressions  from  a  stone  are  flat. 

Proof. — An  impression,  properly  in  black,  from  the 
die,  plate,  or  stone,  taken  in  order  to  see  if 
the  design,  &c.,  has  been  properly  engraved 
or  reproduced. 

Provisional. — A  make-shift  intended  to  supply  a  tem- 
porary want  of  the  proper  stamp,  which  may 
have  been  unexpectedly  sold  out,  or  may  not 
have  been  supplied  owing  to  lack  of  time. 

Quadrille. — See  Paper. 


PHILATELIC  TERMS  47 

Re-issue  denotes  the  bringing  again  into  use  of  a 
stamp  which  has  become  obsolete,  or  at  any 
rate  has  been  long  out  of  use  at  the  post-office  ; 
it  sometimes  implies  a  new  printing. 

Remainders. — Stamps  printed  during  the  period  of 
issue  and  left  on  hand  when  that  issue  has 
gone  out  of  use. 

Reprint. — Strictly  a  reprint  is  an  impression  taken 
from  the  identical  original  die,  plate,  stone,  or 
block,  after  the  stamps  printed  therefrom  have 
gone  out  of  use.  The  term  is  used  to  include 
printings  from  new  plates  or  stones,  made  from 
the  original  die.     And  see  Government  imitations. 

Rep. — See  Paper. 

Retouch,  re-set,  re-engraved,  re-drawn,  re-cut. — All  these 
terms  have  a  somewhat  similar  meaning,  and 
imply  repairs  to,  or  alterations  of,  the  die, 
plates,  stones,  or  blocks :  instances  of  most 
drastic  re-engraving  are  known,  e.g.^  that  of  the 
1848  Two  Pence  ("Post  Paid")  of  Mauritius, 
the  plate  of  which  was  so  altered  as  to  produce 
a  practically  new  stamp,  the  Two  Pence,  "  large 
fillet,"  of  1859;  and  the  Half  Tornese  "Arms" 
of  Naples,  which  had  the  entire  centre  removed 
from  each  of  the  two  hundred  impressions  on 
the  plate  and  replaced  by  the  Cross  of  Savoy 
To  differentiate — retouchhig  is  generally  under- 
taken to  remedy  minor  defects  caused  by  wear 
and  tear:  re-setting  suggests  slight  re-arrange- 
ment of  stamps  made  up,  wholly  or  partly,  of 
printer's  type ;  re-engravings  the  replacing  of 
parts  of  a  design  worn  away  by  use  or  inten- 


48  PHILATELIC  TERMS 

tion :  re-drawing  rather  leads  one  to  infer  that 
the  original  design  has  been  reproduced  in  an 
improved  form  ;  and  re-cutting  implies  going 
over  the  original  die,  &c.,  and  strengthening 
the  engraving,  with,  perhaps,  slight  accidental 
variations  of  the  design. 

Eevenue. — This  word  indicates  availability  for  fiscal 
use,  as  distinguished  from  postal  use.  A  stamp 
may  be  available  for  either  purpose,  or  for  one 
only ;  the  use  is  almost  invariably  indicated  by 
the  inscription. 

Reversed. — Backwards-way  ;  "  as  in  a  looking-glass." 
The  term  is  often,  but  quite  erroneously,  used 
for  inverted — which  see — implying  upside-down. 

Ribbed. — See  Paper. 

Rosace. — The  small  ornament  frequently  found  on 
the  upper  flap  of  old  envelopes ;  known  also  as 


Rough  perforation.— When  the  holes  in  the  lower 
plate  of  the  perforating-machine  get  damaged 
or  partly  clogged  up,  or  the  punches  are  very 
worn,  the  perforation  becomes  very  defective, 
the  little  discs  of  paper  not  being  punched 
out,  but  (though  generally  distinct)  left  only 
partly  cut  through :  this  state  is  termed  "  rough," 
but  must  not  be  confused  with  perc6  en  points 
(pin-perforated),  which  see. 

Rouletted. — See  Perc6. 

Rouletted  in  coloured  lines  is  a  variety  of  rou letting, 
and  always  so  termed,  in  which  the  slits  or 
cuts  are  made  by  means  of  type  ("printer's 
rule  ")  a  little  higher  than  the  cliches  or  stereos 


PHILATELIC  TERMS  49 

composing  the  plate,  and   which    cut  into   the 
paper  under  the  pressure  of  the  printing-press. 

Safety  paper. — See  Paper. 

"  Seebecks."— The  late  Mr.  N.  F.  Seebeck,  the  con- 
tractor to  various  South  American  Republics 
had  an  arrangement  under  which  there  was 
a  new  issue  of  stamps  every  year,  he  to  retain 
for  his  own  benefit  any  demonetised  remainders 
of  the  previous  set :  stamps  provided  under  such 
conditions  are  called  after  their  originator. 

Se  tenant. — A  French  expression  signifying  that  the 
stamps  referred  to  have  not  been  separated : 
usually  employed  in  reference  to  an  error,  or 
variety,  when  still  forming  a  pair  with  a  normal 
stamp. 

Serpentine  roulette. — See  Perc6  en  serpentin. 

Sheet  (of  paper). — There  are  three  "  sheets  "  :  a  mill- 
sheet,  as  manufactured ;  a  sheet  as  printed, 
which  may  be,  and  often  is,  less  than  a  mill- 
sheet;  and  a  "post-office"  sheet,  either  the 
whole  or  an  arbitrary  part  of  a  printed  sheet, 
so  divided  for  convenience  of  reckoning. 

Silk-thread  paper. — See  Paper  (Dickinson). 

Single-line  perforation. — See  Guillotine. 

Spandrel  is  the  term  for  the  triangular  space  between 
a  circle,  oval,  or  curve,  and  the  rectangular  frame 
enclosing  it. 

Specialising. — To  develop  in  a  collection  a  complete 
record  of  the  inception,  history,  and  use  of  the 
stamps  of  a  particular  country,  or  group  of 
countries,  in  the  fullest  and  most  detailed 
manner.  In  contradistinction  to  Generalising 
(which  see). 


50  PHILATELIC  TERMS 

Stationery. — See  Entires. 

Stereotype  or  stereo. — A  reproduction  of  the  original 
design,  made  by  means  of  a  papier-mache  or 
other  mould,   in  type-metal.     And  see  Matrix. 

Strip  is  the  philatelic  term  for  three  or  more  stamps 
unsevered  and  in  the  same  row,  horizontal  or 
vertical. 

Surcharge. — An  overprint  (which  see)  which  alters  the 
face  value  of  a  stamp,  or  confirms  it  in  the  same 
or  a  new  currency.  The  term  is  loosely  used  to 
mean  any  overprint,  but  it  is  desirable  that 
its  application  be  confined  to  inscriptions  affect- 
ing the  denomination  of  face-value. 

Surface-printed,  that  is,  printed  by  a  process  in  which 
the  parts  of  the  plate,  &c.,  which  produce  the 
coloured  portions  of  the  stamp  are  raised  up. 
See  Printing. 

Taille  douce. — When  a  design  is  cut  into  the  substance 
of  the  plate  it  is  said  to  be  engraved  in  taille 
douce.   A  familiar  example  is  a  visiting-card  plate. 

Tdte-b^che  is  a  French  expression  signifying  the  in- 
version of  one  stamp  of  a  pair  (or  more)  in 
relation  to  the  other  stamp  (or  stamps) :  natur- 
ally, the  peculiarity  disappears  on  severance, 
and  such  varieties  must  necessarily  be  in  a  pair 
or  more. 

Toned,  as  applied  to  paper,  implies  a  very  slight  buff 
tint 

Tresse. — See  Rosace. 

Trials. — These  are  impressions  from  die,  plate,  stone, 
&c.,  taken  to  ascertain  if  the  design  be  correct, 
or  to  assist  in  the  selection  of  a  suitable  colour. 


i)i 


«<-s.^. 


EXAMPLES  OF   SOME  PHILATELIC  TERMS. 

Photograph  of  a  flat  steel  die  engraved  in  taille  douce  {i.e.,  with  the 
lines  of  the  design  cut  into  the  plate).  The  stamp  is  the 
50  lepta  of  Greece,  issue  of  1901,  showing  Hermes  adapted 
from  the  Mercury  of  Giovanni  da  Bologna. 


51 


PHILATELIC  TERMS  53 

Type. — A  representative  common  design,  as  distin- 
guished from  "variety,"  which  indicates  slight 
deviations  therefrom. 

Type-set. — Stamps — e.^,,  the  1862  issue  of  British 
Guiana — have  sometimes  been  set  up  with 
ordinary  printet's  type^  as  used  for  books,  and 
the  ornamental  type-metal  designs  to  be  found 
in  a  printing  establishment. 

Typographed. — See  Surface-printed. 

Used  abroad. — Prior  to  certain  countries  and  colonies 
having  their  own  stamps,  British  post-offices 
were  established  in  them,  at  which  British 
stamps  were  to  be  purchased ;  such  stamps, 
identified  by  their  postmarks  as  having  been 
so  used,  are  termed  "  British  used  abroad''  The 
stamps  of  other  countries  have  been  similarly 
"  used  abroad." 

Variety. — A  slight  variation  from  the  normal  design, 
or  type,  which  see. 

Watermarks. — A  thinning  of  the  substance  of  the 
paper,  in  the  form  of  letters,  words,  or  designs, 
&c.,  during  the  manufacture.  On  the  paper 
being  held  up  to  the  light,  or  placed  on  a  dark 
surface,  the  designs  become  more  or  less  visible. 
So-called  "watermarks"  are  sometimes  pro- 
duced by  impressing  a  design  on  the  paper 
after  manufacture ;  this  has  a  somewhat  similar 
effect,  though  the  paper  is  only  pressed,  not 
thinned. 

Wove. — See  Paper. 

Wove  b^tonn^. — See  Paper. 


I 

THE 
GENESIS 
OF  THE 
POST 


CHAPTER   I 
THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  POST 

The  earliest  letter  carriers — The  Roman  posita — Princely  Postmasters 
of  Thurn  and  Taxis — Sir  Brian  Tuke — Hobson  of  '*Hobson's 
Choice " — The  General  Letter  Office  of  England— Dockwra's 
Penny  Post  of  1680 — Povey's  "Halfpenny  Carriage" — The 
Edinburgh  and  other  Penny  Posts — Postal  Rates  before  1840 — 
Uniform  Penny  Postage— The  Postage  Stamp  regarded  as  the 
royal  diplomator—Tdt  growth  of  the  postal  business. 

Postage  is  so  cheap  and  so  easy  to-day  that  we 
are  apt  to  forget  how,  not  very  many  years  ago, 
it  was  a  privilege  of  the  rich.  To-day  the  Post 
Office  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  and  the  "  all 
swallowing  orifice  of  the  pillar-box  "  receives  without 
favour  or  distinction  the  correspondence  of  the 
humble  with  the  messages  of  the  mighty.  The 
Post  Office  treats  everything  confided  to  its  charge 
with  the  same  organised  routine.  In  the  palatial 
new  edifice.  King  Edward  the  Seventh  Building, 
a  few  days  before  Christmas,  a  letter  was  handed 
to  me  for  inspection  in  the  "  Blind  Division,"  where 
they  deal  with  insufficiently  addressed  letters.  The 
missive  bore  in  the  handwriting  of  a  little  child, 
"To  Santa  Claus,  No.  i.  Aerial  Building,  London." 

57 


68         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

That  letter,  I  was  informed,  had  to  be  passed 
through  the  Blind  Division,  thence  to  the  Returned 
Letter  Office,  where  it  would  be  opened  to  discover 
if  the  enclosure  contained  any  indication  of  the 
identity  and  whereabouts  of  the  writer.  If  not 
returnable,  the  letter  would  be  preserved  for  a 
period  lest  it  should  be  claimed.  The  Depart- 
ment is  as  careful  of  the  precocious  petitions  of 
a  child  as  it  is  of  the  papers  of  State  which  it 
carries  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land. 

By  all  who  would  know  the  true  love  of  stamps 
it  must  needs  be  understood  how  postal  matters 
were  before  the  birth  of  the  Penny  Black.  Else 
we  shall  not  fitly  appreciate  all  the  benefices  that 
the  "  label  with  the  glutinous  wash "  has  brought 
to  our  present  civilisation.  Without  this  comparison 
of  the  old  order  with  the  new,  we  should  be  in 
peril  of  passing  over  the  true  significance  of  the 
postage-stamp  in  the  surfeit  of  blessings  it  confers 
upon  the  world  to-day.  Postage  to-day  is  as  fecund 
of  bounties  as  a  fruitful  garden,  yet  do  we  accept 
all  as  our  rightful  heritage,  without  giving  much 
consideration  to  the  little  postage-stamp  which  was 
the  seed  which,  planted  in  every  civilised  country 
of  the  earth,  has  yielded  blessings  in  abundance. 

So  in  our  first  chat,  we  would  open  up  the  book 
in  which  is  told  the  history  of  things  that  are 
written  from  one  to  another.  The  first  letter  of 
which  we  have  any  particular  knowledge  was  that 
by  which  David  achieved  his  evil  purpose  of  sending 
Uriah  the  Hittite  to  the  forefront  of  the  battle,  that 


THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  POST         59 

he  might  be  smitten  and  die.  The  unfortunate 
Uriah  was  himself  the  rn.,  ..^..,  ucci^.n^  ^... 
letter  to  Joab  with  his  ovv,i  hand.  The  brazen-faced 
Jezebel  forged  her  royal  husband's  name  to  letters, 
so  our  first  meeting  with  letters  in  scriptural  history 
shows  that  they  could  be  used  to  evil  as  well  as 
to  good  purpose. 

As  the  Scythians  made  contracts  one  with 
another  by  mingling  the  warm  blood  of  their 
bodies  in  a  cup  and  drinking  thereof,  so  the  Persians 
used  living  letters  in  their  early  correspondence. 
Herodotus  tells  us  how  they  shaved  the  heads  of 
their  messengers  and  impressed  or  branded  the 
"  writing "  upon  their  scalps.  Then  they  were  shut 
up  until  the  hair  had  grown  again  and  concealed 
the  message,  when  the  runners  were  sent  off  upon 
their  divers  journeys.  A  messenger  on  reaching 
his  destination  was  again  shaved  and  the  epistle 
was  made  plain  to  the  eyes  of  the  beholder. 

This  was  a  primitive  method,  one  of  many  which 
had  vogue  amongst  the  ancients.  Under  Darius  I. 
the  Persians  had  a  service  of  Government  couriers, 
for  whom  were  provided  horses  ready  saddled  at 
specified  distances  on  their  route,  so  that  the  Govern- 
ment could  send  and  receive  communications  with 
the  provinces.  "  Nothing  in  the  world  is  borne 
so  swiftly  as  messages  by  the  Persian  couriers," 
says  Herodotus. 

The  word  "  post "  descends  to  us  from  the  Roman 
posita  (posttus=p\diced),  and  is  a  link  between  our 
posts  of  to-day  and  the  cursus  publicus  of  the  time 
of  Augustus.     In  those  days  of  arms  the  roads  were 


60         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

laid  for  armies  to  traverse,  not  for  traffic,  and  the 
organisation  of  the  posita  was  military.  Stations 
were  established  at  intervals  on  the  chief  routes, 
where  couriers  and  magistrates  could  be  furnished 
with  changes  of  horses  {mutationes.)  For  the  benefit 
of  the  travellers  mansiones  or  night  quarters  were 
erected.  These  State  posts  were  only  for  the  use 
of  the  Government,  and  they  were  ridden  by  couriers 
who  had,  besides  their  own  mount,  a  spare  horse 
for  carrying  the  letters.  Individuals  were  at  times 
permitted  to  use  the  posts,  for  which  privilege  they 
had  to  have  the  permits  or  diplomata  of  the  Emperor. 
The  Romans  also  had  what  may  be  compared  with 
sea-posts,  from  Ostia  and  other  ports. 

Foot-runners  and  messengers  on  horseback  have 
been  organised  for  Government  communications  in 
most  lands  where  civilisation  has  dawned,  even  in 
remote  times.  In  the  West  the  Incas  and  the 
Aztecs  had  runners  from  earliest  times,  and  in  the 
Orient  carrier-pigeons  provided  an  additional  means 
of  communication. 

It  is  not  until  the  fifteenth  century  that  we  find 
posts  in  operation  on  a  more  public  scale,  the  first 
being  a  horse-post  plying  between  the  Tyrol  and 
Italy,  set  up  by  Roger  of  Thurn  and  Taxis  in  1460. 
From  that  modest  beginning  sprang  the  vast  mono- 
poly of  the  Counts  of  Thurn  and  Taxis,  which 
dominated  the  posts  of  the  Continent  during  five 
centuries,  remaining  into  the  early  period  of  the 
postage-stamp  system.  By  1500,  Franz  von  Taxis 
was  Postmaster-General  of  Austria,  the  Low 
Countries,    Spain,   Burgundy,  and    Italy.     In    15 16 


THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  POST  61 

he  connected   up    Brussels    and    Vienna,    and    his 
successor  Leonard  provided  a  link  between  Vienna 
and  Nuremberg.     In  1595,  Leonard  von  Taxis  was 
the  Grand  Postmaster  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
and   he  established   a   post    from   the   Netherlands 
to    Italy  by  way  of   Treves,   Spire,    Wurtemburg, 
Augsburg,     and     Tyrol.       In     the    next    century, 
Eugenius   Alexander  subscribes  himself  in  a  postal 
document  as  "Count  of  Thurn,  Valsassina,   Tassis 
and  the  Holy  Empire,  Chamberlain  of  His  Majesty 
the  Roman  Emperor,  Hereditary  Postmaster-General 
of  the  Realm,'    The  postal  dominion  of  this  princely 
house  flourished  until  the  wars  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, from  which  period   the  power  of  the   Counts 
began    to    dwindle.     Some   of  the   German   States 
withdrew   from   their   arrangements  with  the  house 
of  Thurn   and   Taxis,   and   others   purchased   their 
freedom  and  set   up   postal   establishments  of  their 
own.     By    the    middle   of    the   nineteenth    century 
Austria,   Prussia,   Bavaria,    Hanover,  Baden,  Bruns- 
wick,  Mecklenburg-Schwerin,   Holstein,   Oldenburg, 
Lauenburg,  Luxemburg  and   Saxony  had  indepen- 
dent posts,  but  the  Thurn  and  Taxis  administration 
still  controlled  an  area  of  25,000  square  miles  (with 
3,750,000  inhabitants),  under  the  direction  of  a  head 
office  at  Frankfort-on-the- Maine.     In  185 1,  however, 
Wurtemburg,  at  a  cost  of  over  ;^  100,000,   bought 
its  freedom  from  the  monopolists ;  and  sixteen  years 
later  (1867)   Prussia  paved   the  way   for  the  com- 
pletion of  the  consolidation  of  the  German  Empire 
by   purchasing  for   three   million   thalers    (approxi- 
mately ;£"450,ooo)  the   last  remaining  rights  of  the 

4 


62         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

house  of  Thurn  and  Taxis  in  the  postal  affairs  of 
Germany. 

In  England  the  royal  Nuncii  et  Cur  sores  were 
the  forerunners  of  the  King's  Messengers  of  to-day, 
and  were  exclusively  employed  upon  State  affairs 
and  for  the  correspondence  of  the  Sovereign  and 
of  the  Court.  At  what  period  the  people  were 
admitted  to  the  privilege  of  the  posts  is  obscure. 
The  first  Master  of  the  Posts  of  whom  we  know 
was  one  Brian  Tuke,  Esq.,  afterwards  Sir  Brian 
Tuke,  who  is  best  remembered  in  Holbein's  several 
portraits  of  him,  and  as  the  author  of  the  preface 
to  Thynne's  "Chaucer."  He  was  at  one  period 
secretary  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and  it  is  in  a  letter 
(1533)  to  his  successor  in  that  office,  Thomas  Crom- 
well, that  we  find  the  one  clue  to  the  state  of  the 
posts  at  that  time: 

"  By  your  letters  of  the  twelfth  of  this  moneth, 
I  perceyve  that  there  is  grete  defaulte  in  conveyance 
of  letters,  and  of  special  men  ordeyned  to  be  sent 
in  post ;  and  that  the  Kinges  pleasure  is,  that  postes 
be  better  appointed,  and  laide  in  al  places  most 
expedient ;  with  commaundement  to  al  townshippes 
in  al  places,  on  payn  of  lyfe,  to  be  in  suche  redynes, 
and  to  make  suche  provision  of  horses,  at  al  tymes, 
as  no  tract  or  losse  of  tyme  be  had  in  that  behalf." 

In  the  sixteenth  century,  there  were  regular 
carriers  licensed  to  take  passengers,  goods,  and 
letters,  and  of  these  the  most  remarkable  was 
Tobias  Hobson,  who  was  an  innkeeper  at  Cam- 
bridge. His  memory  is  perpetuated  in  the  common 
expression  of  "  Hobson's  choice."     The  innkeeper 


THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  POST         63 

kept  a  stable  of  forty  good  c«fcttle,  but  made  it  a 
rule  that  any  who  came  to  hire  a  horse  was  obliged 
to  take  the  one  nearest  the  stable  dobr,  "  so  that 
every  customer  was  alike  well  served,  according 
to  his  chance,  and  every  horse  ridden  with  the 
same  justice."  Milton,  in  one  of  his  two  punning 
epitaphs  on  Hobson,  refers  to  his  position  as  letter- 
carrier  : — 

"His  letters  are  deliver'd  all  and  gone; 
Only  remains  this  superscription." 

From  1609,  the  Posts  of  Great  Britain  have  been 
under  the  monopoly  of  the  Crown,  and  at  that 
time  they  were  carried  on  at  a  loss.  As  the  posts 
did  not  carry  the  correspondence  of  the  public,  there 
was  no  likelihood  of  their  being  made  self-supporting 
until  the  facilities  they  offered  were  of  utility  to  the 
people.  The  general  admission  of  the  public  to  these 
facilities  dates  from  1635,  under  the  Postmastership 
of  Thomas  Witherings,  and  two  years  later  was 
set  up  the  "  Letter  Office  of  England."  The  cheapest 
rate  under  Withering's  management  was  2d.  for  a 
"single  letter"  (that  is,  one  sheet  of  paper)  con- 
veyed a  distance  not  exceeding  80  miles.  If  the 
letter  weighed  an  ounce,  the  charge  was  6d.  A 
single  letter  to  Scotland  cost  8d.  and  to  Ireland  gd. 

For  a  number  of  years  prior  to  1667,  the  posts 
were  farmed  to  various  individuals,  and  during  the 
Commonwealth,  Parliament  passed  an  Act  settling 
the  postage  of  the  three  kingdoms,  which  "  pretended 
Act"  was  practically  re-enacted  at  the  Restoration. 
The  profits  on  the  Post  Office  were  settled  by  Charles 


m         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

^*Uv^  II.   upon  his  son,  the   Duke    of  York,  afterwards 

^^^^ff^   James  II.,  and  the  latter  took  care  upon  his  acces- 
Hg^'^^  sion  to  the  throne  to  secure  the  continuance  of  his 
^         enjoyment  of  its  revenues. 
Jr^^^  ^  Private  enterprise  was  responsible  for  putting  a 

good  deal  of  pressure  on  the  Post  Office  in  the 
early  days.  In  1659,  a  penny  post  was  first  proposed 
by  one  John  Hill  and  certain  other  "  Undertakers," 
but  the  most  notable  instance  was  the  success  that 
attended  the  efforts  of  William  Dockwra  in  establish- 
ing the  London  Penny  Post  in  1680.  By  this  penny 
post,  Londoners  had  for  three  years  an  excellent  and 
frequent  service  of  postal  collections  and  deliveries 
of  their  letters  and  parcels  within  the  City  and 
suburbs.  The  Government  post  had  one  office  in 
London — the  General  Letter  Office — up  to  1680. 
Consequently,  persons  who  had  letters  to  send  by 
post  had  either  to  take  them,  or  procure  messengers 
to  take  them,  to  the  office  in  Lombard  Street. 
Dockwra  established  between  four  and  five  hundred 
receiving  offices  for  letters,  and  a  good  part  of  the 
business  he  did  was  in  transmitting  letters  to  and 
from  the  General  Letter  Office  in  Lombard  Street. 

The  penny  post  made  many  friends,  but  also 
a  few  enemies.  Of  the  few  there  was  one  of  power- 
ful influence,  the  Duke  of  York,  who  envied  the 
prospective  income  to  be  derived  from  a  popular 
post;  there  were  others  who  were  unscrupulous  in 
their  attacks,  led  by  the  notorious  Titus  Oates,  who 
pretended  to  expose  the  whole  of  Dockwra's  plan 
as  "a  farther  branch  of  the  Popish  plot,"  and  the 
porters   of  London,  who,  fearing   to   lose   many  of 


( « ) 


The  Pradical  Method . 


O  V    THE 


PENNY POST 

Being  a  Sheet  very  ncccffiiry  for  all  Perfons  to  luvc  by  them, 

For  their  Information  in  the  Regular  Ule  of  a  De- 

\   {ign  fo  well  Approved  of,  for  quicken Ing  Corre- 

fpondencc,  Promoting  Trade  and  PiihiickGood, 

pyah  an  Exf  lunation  of  the  following  Stamps  fur  the 
Mtirl^ng  of  nil  Letters, 


Jrh  w  IIP . 

^   b,Co 

fadjc  I    0  r  T^t  cc,     1  1     <,  3     ^ 

vjn^bc-"i.ru  I  omcF       V\t.    ii^ 
cnll)  fiomuicl  nora!  i,in<ir  i\k  ^  , 
Convi-'ced,  b>  u.n    ind  cxjcuc      ,\ 
Un  1  rnki  irs  Compk  t  ,  for  rl  c  *u. 
d  fti>,  niuch  (.\pcicc  of  urt^  a  d 
fortTiLr  M(.tkd:>,   ^Cthtj  loix  ;\    n 
Irsbccii  much  Noil,  il  o  t  tiie  j  uk 
Ferry  Ifjf,   w'licli  h  s  rifen  thir     h    i 
the  UndorUkcrs  c..n  fufrciei^ly  Evid<.i  c    \ 
ready  to  produce,  for  the  Jufti'icstion  or  U- 
"     'fo  many  Caulicfs  and  Unjuft  R.:. 

it  hi^ly  Ntceilary  to  undeceive  t!  _ 
Tpring,  vtz.    Some  Men  fuppoR-,    : 

atleai  Delayed,)  becaufethey  Lavs  ;x- 


1    o  f  • 


L 

sard 

Ten  Pourd    n 

w         !.l          D 

iLn^sof 

1 

1 

Lc  UiO   ?  rr 

.1  ,  h^rc- 

ll 

1 

d  Buiit  c<     J 

n-^  ui  « 

sfor 

aD( 

»fca\eTp  i\ 

1^. 

sof 

"o 

ndsCrarfc   ii. 

Good  ,      t 

1  I     . 

ch  (it 

'^pr3 

i   tt  hj  he 

tc,cf{ 

il    P0  5l 

Will   11 

,  iiid  1       CJ 

liN>.v 

>  1  »\<-  \    rh 

r    t  ll! 

n  L 

ch  Alu    ti) 

in        1 

!•; 

-1. 

■>        \\\  \ 

S              1 

^y^ 


/ 


THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  POST  67 

their   chances   of  employment,   vented  their  spleen 
in  the  manner  of  vulgar  rioters. 

Proceedings  were  taken  against  Dockwra  for  in- 
fringement of  the  Crown's  monopoly,  and  the  case 
being  carried,  the  London  Penny  Post  was  shortly 
afterwards  re-established  and  carried  on  under 
authority  for  nearly  a  hundred  and  twenty  years, 
until  1 80 1,  when  the  penny  rate  was  doubled  and 
the  Penny  Post  became  the  Twopenny  Post. 

Charles  Povey's  "  halfpenny  carriage  "  (1708)  was 
a  poor  copy  of  Dockwra's  post,  covering  a  smaller 
area  at  the  lower  fee  of  one  halfpenny.  Its  originator 
was  fined  ;£"ioo  in  1760,  and  the  incident  of  this  post 
is  only  remarkable  in  postal  history  for  its  having 
originated  the  use  of  the  "bellman"  for  collecting 
letters  in  the  streets. 

The  Edinburgh  Penny  Post,  set  up  by  the  keeper 
of  a  coffee-shop  in  the  hall  of  Parliament  House, 
Peter  Williamson,  in  1768,  was  also  stopped  by  the 
authorities  as  a  private  enterprise ;  but  its  pro- 
moter was  given  a  pension  of  ;£"25  a  year  and  the 
post  was  carried  on  by  the  General  Post  Office. 
Just  three  years  previously,  local  Penny  Posts  had 
been  legalised  by  the  Act  of  5  George  HI.,  c.  25, 
provided  they  were  set  up  where  adjudged  to  be 
necessary  by  the  Postmaster-General.  Such  penny 
posts  increased  rapidly  towards  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  just  before  Uniform  Penny 
Postage  was  introduced  there  were  more  than  two 
thousand  of  them  in  operation  in  different  parts  of 
the  country.  In  spite  of  the  increase  in  these  local 
posts,  however,  the  general  postage  was  high,  the 


68         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

tendency  of  the  later  changes  in  the  rates  being  to 
increase  rather  than  to  lessen  them. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
rates  were  such  that  few  but  the  rich  could  make 
frequent  use  of  the  luxury  of  postage,  and  these 
rates,  coming  close  up  to  the  period  of  the  new 
regime  of  1840,  form  an  extraordinary  series  of 
contrasts.  Here  is  an  old  post-office  rate-book  kept 
by  the  postmaster  (or  mistress)  at  Southampton  in 
the  'thirties,  which  I  like  to  show  my  friends  when 
they  sigh  for  the  good  old  times.  It  is  a  printed 
list  of  the  chief  places  to  which  letters  could  be  sent, 
with  columns  to  be  filled  in  by  the  postal  official 
after  calculating  distances  and  exercising  simple 
arithmetic.  In  Great  Britain  the  rates  were  for 
single  letters  : — 


From  any  post  office  in  England  or  Wales  to  any  place 

not  exceeding  15  miles  from  such  office 
Between  15  and    20  miles... 


20 

30 

30 

50 

so 

80 

80 

120 

120 

170 

170 

230 

230 

300 

'.*' 

..  4u. 

..  6d. 

..  7d. 

..  8d. 

..  9d. 

..  lOd. 

..  iid. 

..  I2d. 

and  one  penny  in  addition  on  each  single  letter  for 
every  100  miles  beyond  300.  These  rates  did  not 
include  "  id.  in  addition  to  be  taken  for  penny 
postage"  and  in  certain  cases  toll-fees. 

Under    these  rates,  a    single   letter   to   Kirkwall 
from   Southampton  cost    is.   ^d. ;    to   London    9d., 


APosT-CrMCE  IV    17SG. 

By  permission  of  the  Proprietors  of  the  City  Pre 


V. 


THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  POST         71 

plus  the  penny  postage ;  Cork  is.  3d.,  &c.  These 
rates  were  for  a  single-sheet  letter,  the  charge  being 
multiplied  by  two  for  a  double  letter,  by  four  for  an 
ounce,  which  is  one-quarter  of  the  weight  at  present 
allowed  on  a  letter  which  costs  us  a  modest  penny. 

Letters  for  overseas  were    correspondingly  high 
as  the  following  comparisons  will  show : — 


Single-sheet  Letter. 

I  oz.  Letter. 

1830. 

1911. 

Austria         

2S.  3d. 

...      2jd. 

Brazil                  x 

Buenos  Aires      I 

Chili,  reru,  &c.  J 

3s.  5d. 

...      2id. 

Canary  Islands      

2s.  6d. 

...      2id. 

Germany 

IS.  9d. 

...      2jd. 

Hayti           

2S.  iid. 

...      2id. 

Honduras 

2S.  I  id. 

...      2id. 

Portugal      

2S.  2d. 

...      2jd. 

Russia         

2S.  3d. 

...      2jd. 

Spain          

2S.  2d. 

...     2id. 

Sweden       

IS.  8d. 

...      2jd. 

Turkey        

2S.  2d. 

...      2id. 

United  States        

2S.  id. 

...      Id. 

British  West  Indies  and ) 
British  North  America    1 

2S.  id. 

...     Id. 

Malta,  Gibraltar 

2S.  2d. 

...     Id. 

St.  Helena             

IS.  8id. 

...     Id. 

The  registration  fee  on  foreign  letters  was,  in  the 
early  nineteenth  century,  one  guinea  per  letter  ;  to- 
day it  is  twopence. 

These  are  but  a  few  examples  showing  what  a 
mighty  change  was  wrought  with  the  introduction  of 
the  Uniform  Penny  Postage  plan  of  Rowland  Hill. 
The  circumstances  under  which  the  new  plan  was 
introduced   included  several   factors  to  which  may 


THE  COMMEMORATIVE  LETTER   BALANCE  DESIGNED  BY  MR.  S.  KING, 
OF  BATH  (1840). 

A  monument  "  which  may  be  possessed  by  every  family  in  the  United  Kingdom." 


72 


MR.  king's  letter  BALANCE  HAD  A  TRIPOD  BASE,  AS  IN  THE 
UPPERMOST  FIGURE,  THUS  AFFORDING  THREE  TABLETS,  ON 
WHICH  THE  ASSOCIATIONS  OF  J.  PALMER,  ROWLAND  HILL, 
AND  gUEEN  VICTORIA  WITH  POSTAL  REFORM  ARE  RECORDED. 


78 


74         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

be  attributed  a  share  in  the  success  of  Hill's  plan. 
First,  the  uniform  and  low  minimum  rate  of  one 
penny  on  inland  letters,  dispensing  with  tedious 
calculations  of  distance.  By  some  it  was  feared  that 
the  necessity  for  calculating  the  weight  would  be 
more  troublesome  than  examining  the  letter  against 
a  lighted  candle  to  see  if  it  were  "  single "  or 
"  double,"  and  scores  of  "  penny  post  letter  balances  " 
were  placed  upon  the  market  at  the  outset.  Next 
was  the  increased  facility  of  transit  provided  by  the 
then  growing  system  of  railways,  and  the  subsequent 
development  of  steam-power  at  sea. 

But  the  one  factor  which  to  us  is  the  most  notable 
contribution  to  the  success  of  the  Penny  Postage 
plan,  was  the  square  inch  of  paper  with  its  backing  of 
glutinous  wash.  This  enabled  the  authorities  to  effect 
the  introduction  of  prepayment,  and  save  the  long 
delays  formerly  occasioned  by  the  postman  having 
to  await  payment  for  each  letter  on  delivery.  It 
saved  the  complicated  system  by  which  the  Post 
Office  had  to  ensure  that  the  postman  did  get  paid, 
and  in  his  turn  accounted  for  the  money  to  his 
office.  It  was  to  this  simple  contrivance  of  a  small 
label,  issued  by  authority,  to  indicate  the  prepay- 
ment of  postage  that  the  practical  success  of  Hill's 
plan  was  greatly  due.  The  little  stamps  are  the 
royal  diplomata  which  enable  us  all,  at  a  modest  fee, 
to  use  His  Majesty's  mails,  a  privilege  enjoyed  by 
great  and  small,  by  rich  and  poor.  So  stamp-col- 
lectors deem  the  objects  of  their  interest  to  have 
achieved  a  vast  reform  in  internal  and  universal 
communications,  giving  a  powerful  impetus  to  social 


THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  POST  75 

progress,   international  commerce,   and    the   world's 
peace. 

The  year  before  the  introduction  of  Uniform 
Penny  Postage  there  were  75,907,572  letters  dealt 
with  by  the  Post  Office.  The  number  was  more  than 
doubled  in  the  first  year  of  the  new  system,  and  the 
subsequent  growth  of  correspondence  is  outlined  in 
the  figures  (letters  only)  for  the  following  years; — 


1840 

..  168,768,344 

1880  .. 

1,176,423,600 

1850  . 

..  347,069,071 

1890  .. 

1,705,800,000 

i860  . 

564,002,000 

1900  .. 

.  2,323,600,000 

1870 

862,722,000 

I9I0  .. 

2,947,100,000 

n 

THE 

DEVELOPMENT 
OF  AN 
IDEA 


CHAPTER   II 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AN    IDEA 

Early  instances  of  contrivances  to  denote  prepayment  of  postage — The 
"Two  Sous"  1*051  —  Billets  de  port  pay i — A  passage  of  wit 
between  the  French  Sappho  and  M.  PelHsson — Dockwra's  letter- 
marks — Some  fabulous  stamped  wrappers  of  the  Dutch  Indies — • 
Letter-sheets  used  in  Sardinia — Lieut.  TrefFenberg's  proposals  for^ 
"Postage  Charts"  in  Sweden — The  postage-stamp  idea  "in  the 
air  " — Early  British  reformers  and  their  proposals — The  Lords  of 
the  Treasury  start  a  competition — Mr.  Cheverton's  prize  plan — A 
find  of  papers  relating  to  the  contest — A  square  inch  of  gummed 
paper — The  Sydney  embossed  envelopes — The  Mulready  envelope 
— The  Parliamentary  envelopes — The  adhesive  stamp  popularly 
preferred  to  the  Mulready  envelope. 

The  simplest  inventions  are  usually  apt  adaptations. 
The  postage-stamp,  as  we  know  it  to-day,  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  been  invented,  though 
much  wild  controversy  has  raged  about  the  identity 
of  its  "inventor."  The  historian  must  prefer  to  regard 
the  postage-stamp  of  to-day  as  the  development  of 
an  idea. 

It  would  not  serve  any  purpose  useful  to  the 
present  subject  to  trace  to  its  beginnings  the  use 
of  stamped  paper  for  the  collection  of  Government 
revenues ;  but  it  is  highly  interesting  to  disentangle 

79 


80         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE   STAMPS 

from  the  web  of  history  the  facts  which  show  this 
system  to  have  been  recognised  as  applicable  to 
the  collection  of  postages  by  the  prototypes  of  the 
reformers  of  1840. 

The  first  known  instance  of  special  printed 
wrappers  being  sold  for  the  convenience  of  users 
of  a  postal  organisation  occurred  in  Paris  in  1653. 
At  this  time  France  had  its  General  Post,  just  as 
England  about  the  same  time  had  set  up  a  General 
Letter  Office  in  the  City  of  London ;  but  in  neither 
case  did  the  General  Post  handle  local  letters.  To 
despatch  a  letter  to  the  country  from  Paris,  or  from 
London,  there  was  no  choice  but  to  deliver  it  person- 
ally, or  send  it  by  private  messenger,  to  the  one 
solitary  repository  in  either  city  for  the  conveyance 
of  correspondence  by  the  Government  post. 

The  porters  of  London  found  no  small  part  of  the 
exercise  of  their  trade  in  carrying  letters  to  the 
General  Letter  Office,  and  in  Paris,  no  doubt,  a 
similar  class  of  men  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  catering 
at  individual  rates  for  what  is  now  done  on  the  vast 
co-operative  plan  of  the  State  monopoly. 

In  1653,  a  Frenchman,  M.  de  Villayer,  afterwards 
Comte  de  Villayer,  set  up  as  a  private  enterprise 
(but  with  royal  authority)  the  petite  poste  in  Paris, 
which  had  for  its  raison  ditre  the  carrying  of  letters 
to  the  General  Post,  and  also  the  delivery  of  local 
letters  within  the  city.  He  distributed  letter-boxes 
at  prominent  positions  in  the  chief  thoroughfares  in 
Paris,  into  which  his  customers  could  drop  their 
letters  and  from  whence  his  laquais  could  collect 
them    at    regular  intervals.     At  certain    appointed 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AN  IDEA    81 

places  M.  de  Villayer  placed  on  sale  letter-covers, 
or  wrappers,  which  bore  a  marque  particulier^  and 
which,  being  sold  at  the  rate  of  a  penny  each  (two 
sous)^  were  permitted  to  frank  any  letter  deposited  in 
the  numerous  letter-boxes  of  the  Villayer  post  to  any 
point  within  the  city.  The  post  is  the  one  afterwards 
referred  to  by  Voltaire  as  the  "  \.viO'Sous  post." 

These  wrappers,  then,  were  the  first  printed  franks 
for  the  collection  of  postage  from  the  public.  The 
exact  nature  of  the  matter  imprinted  upon  them  is 
uncertain  ;  but  it  probably  included  M.  de  Villayer's 
coat  of  arms,  and  it  was  on  this  hypothesis  that  the 
late  M.  Maury,  the  French  philatelist,  reconstructed 
an  approximate  imitation  of  the  original  form  of 
cover.  The  covers,  it  should  be  stated,  were  wrapped 
around  the  letters  by  the  senders,  and  were  then 
dropped  in  the  boxes.  In  the  process  of  sorting 
for  delivery,  the  servants  of  M.  de  Villayer  removed 
the  special  cover,  which  removal  was  practically 
the  equivalent  of  the  cancellation  of  the  stamps 
of  to-day. 

These  covers  undoubtedly  represent  the  first  known 
form  of  printed  postage-stamps,  being  the  forerunners 
of  the  impressed  non-adhesive  stamps  of  to-day.  The 
Maury  reconstruction  is  fanciful,  but  the  inscriptions 
thereon  are  literally  correct.  Owing  to  the  removal 
of  the  covers  (which  were  probably  broken  in  the 
process)  during  the  postal  operations  no  originals 
of  these  covers  are  now  known  to  exist.  Indeed,  the 
only  true  relics  of  the  billets  de  port  payd  of  M.  de 
Villayer  are  in  the  two  fragments  of  correspondence 
between  M.  Pellisson  and  the  French  Sappho,  Mile. 

5 


82         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Scud^ri.  Pellisson,  who  was  not  noted  for  his  good 
looks,  addressed  "  Mademoiselle  Sapho,  demeurant 
en  la  rue,  au  pays  des  Nouveaux  Sansomates^  k  Paris, 
par  billet  de  port  pay6."  Signing  himself  "  Pisandre," 
he  inquired  if  the  lady  could  give  him  a  remedy  for 
love.  Her  reply,  sent  by  the  same  means,  was,  "  My 
dear  Pisandre,  you  have  only  to  look  at  yourself  in 
a  mirror."  It  was  of  this  correspondent  that  the 
lady  once  declared,  "  It  is  permissible  to  be  ugly,  but 
Pellisson  has  really  abused  the  permission." 

The  London  Penny  Post  of  1680,  while  it  did  not 
use  special  covers  for  the  prepayment  of  letters, 
introduced  the  system  of  marking  on  letters,  by 
means  of  hand-stamps,  the  time  and  place  of  post- 
ing and  the  intimation  "  Penny  Post  Payd."  Dockwra, 
instead  of  setting  up  boxes  in  the  public  streets, 
organised  a  great  circle  of  receiving  houses  to  which 
the  senders  took  their  letters  and  paid  their  pennies 
over  the  counter.  So  the  principle  of  the  postage- 
stamp,  as  we  know  it  to-day,  was  not  represented  in 
the  triangular  hand-stamps  of  Dockwra,  or  of  his 
successors  in  the  official  Penny  Post. 

A  device  representing  the  arms  of  Castile  and 
Leon  was  used  in  the  eighteenth  century  as  a  kind 
of  frank  or  stamp  which  passed  official  correspon- 
dence through  the  posts,  and  in  the  last  quarter  of 
that  century  the  Chevalier  Paris  de  I'Epinard  pro- 
posed in  Brussels  the  erection  of  a  local  post  with 
a  mark  or  stamp  of  some  kind  to  denote  postage 
prepaid — a  plan  which,  however,  was   not  adopted. 

There  is  a  curious  account  given  by  a  corre- 
spondent in  The  Philatelic  Record  \yi\\.  138]  of  some 


"<;i 


Q 

It 

-  o 

-  K 
w  H 

k2 
|o 

go 


a:  2 


8A 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AN  IDEA    85 

so-called  stamps  said  to  have  been  used  in  the  Dutch 
Indies.  The  writer,  whose  account  has  never  so  far 
as  I  am  aware  received  any  definite  confirmation, 
says  : — 

"At  the  beginning  of  this  year  [1890]  were  dis- 
covered amongst  some  old  Government  documents 
at  Batavia  some  curious  and  hitherto — whether  here 
or  in  Europe — unknown  postally  used  envelopes, 
with  value  indicated.  ...  In  the  time  of  Louis  XIV. 
it  is  believed  that  postage-stamps  existed ;  but  no- 
body has  been  able  to  bring  them  to  light,  conse- 
quently we  have  in  these  hand-stamped  envelopes  of 
the  Dutch  East  Indian  Company  absolutely  the  oldest 
documents  of  philatelic  lore. 

"The  letter-sheets  are  all  made  from  the  same 
paper,  and  are  all  of  the  same  size — namely,  about 
23  X  19  centimetres  ;  whilst  the  side  which  is  most 
interesting  to  us — the  *  address '  or  *  stamp '  side — 
is  folded  to  a  size  of  103  x  88  mm.  Up  to  the 
present  the  following  values  have  been  found : — 


black 

i> 

red 
black 

(daukli;  that  is  to  say,  two  stamps 
**      1     of  6  stivers  side  by  side. 

red 


*'  On  the  address-side  is  no  date  stamp,  and  no 
indication  of  the  office  of  departure ;  also  the  figures 
denoting  the  year  are  only  discernible  on  the  seal 


3  stivers 

... 

5      » 

... 

5        n 

... 

6      „ 

... 

6      „ 

... 

10      „ 

... 

10      „ 

... 

IS     .» 

... 

MANIFESTO 

CAMERALE 

toTlstitt  notificanza  che  la  Carta  Postale-bollata ,  stabillta 
colle  Regie  Pateoti  delH  7  (lello  scorso  novembre ,  sara 
prowisionalmeote  posta  in  corso  noo  filagraoata  ;  della 
dfhoeniiobe  ordlnaria  della  Carta  cos\  delta  da  Lcttere , 
«  munltQ  dei  bolli  retaiivi  alie  tre  quality  della  medesima 
pienamente  cooformt  agH  impmoti  tvi  delioeati. 


In  data  delU  3  dicembre   1818. 


TORINO , 


DALLA    STAMPERIA    REALE. 

THE  OFFICIAL  NOTIFICATION  OF  DECEMBER  3,   I818,   RELATING  TO 
THE  USE  OF  THE  SARDINIAN  LETTER  SHEETS. 

Described  In  tht  records  of  the  Schroeder  collection  as  "tlie  oldest  ofAcial 
notification  of  any  country  in  the  world  relating  to  postage  stamps." 

86 


3.  Che  air  epoca  in  cui  comincier^  la  distrlbuziooe  dcIU 
nuova  carta  filagranata  cesser^  V  uso  della  carta  bollala 
Hon  filagranata  ;  e  che  i  foglj  rimanenti  della  raedestma 
potranno  essere  cangiati  contro  altrettanll  della  ouova 
con  filagraoa. 

I  diversi  boUi  che  verranno  appostl  sovra  la  carta  prov- 
iri&ionale  non  filagranata ,  saraono  pienamenle  cooformi 
agP  impronti  infra  delineati ,  i  quali  unitamenle  ai  loro 
modclli ,  ed  agli  esemplari  della  carta  suddetta  sono  stati 
depositati  negli  Archivj  nostrl  giusta  il  disposto  dalTar- 
ticolo  2  delle  mentovate  Regie  Palenti-  delli  7  dello 
scorso  novembre.  ^ 

Modelli  de  BoHu 


nfandiamo  il  prescnte  pubblicarsi  ai  luoghi ,  e  modi  soliti, 
ed  alle  copie  che  ne  verranno  stampate  nella  Stamperia 
Rcalc  prestarsi  la  stessa  fede  che  all'  originale. 

Dat,  in  Torino  li  ire  dicembre  mille  ottocento  diciolto. 


Per  delta  Eccellentissima  Regia 
CAMERA 


X 


FAVA. 

{Continuation  from  previous  P<^.) 

THE  MODELS  SHOW  THE  DEVICES  FOR  THB  THREE   DENOMINA- 
TIONS :    15,  25,  AND  50  CBNTBSIMI  RESPECTIVELY. 

87 


88         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

of  each  letter.  On  the  specimens  hitherto  found 
are  the  dates  from  1794  to  1809;  but  it  is  quite 
possible  that  other  values  may  be  unearthed.  So 
far,  of  all  the  above  values  together,  only  about 
thirty  specimens  are  known.  .  .  .  These  envelopes 
came  from  various  places  in  the  Dutch  Indian 
Archipelago." 

The  foregoing  statement  is  open  to  much  ques- 
tion, in  view  of  the  lapse  of  twenty  years  since  the 
matter  was  first  aired  in  The  Philatelic  Record,  If 
authentic,  these  would  be  the  earliest  denominated 
stamps  for  the  prepayment  of  postage,  the  Dutch 
stuiver  in  use  in  the  colonies  being  a  copper  coin 
equal  to  about  one  penny.  Perhaps  the  introduction 
of  the  matter  in  these  Chats  will,  in  the  light  of 
increased  modern  facilities  for  research,  bring  the 
subject  before  the  notice  of  our  Dutch  philatelic 
confreres. 

The  Sardinian  letter  sheets  of  the  early  nineteenth 
century  are  now  tolerably  well  known  to  stamp- 
collectors.  They,  however,  represented  a  Govern- 
ment tax  on  the  privilege  of  letter-carrying,  rather 
than  a  direct  prepayment  of  postage.  These  were 
the  product  of  a  curious  anomaly  in  the  exercise 
of  the  postal  monopoly  by  the  Government  of 
Sardinia.  It  was  forbidden  to  send  letters  and 
packets  otherwise  than  through  the  Government 
post ;  but  as  this  latter  was  very  inefficient,  and  in 
many  parts  of  the  country  was  practically  non- 
existent, the  authorities  established  by  decree,  in 
18 1 8,  a  system  whereby  the  people  for  whom  the 
Government  post  was  inconvenient,  if  not  absolutely 


SARDINIAN  LETTER  SHEET  OF   1818  :    15  CENTESIMI. 


11. 

THE  25   CENTESIMI   LETTER  SHEET   OF  SARDINIA. 

Issued  in  Sardinia,  1818  :  the  earliest  use  of  Letter  Sheets  with 
embossed  stamps. 


89 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AN  IDEA    91 

useless,  could  send  their  letters  by  other  means.  To 
effect  this  the  senders  had  to  supply  themselves  from 
a  post-office  with  a  stock  of  special  letter  sheets, 
stamped  with  a  device  of  a  mounted  post-boy, 
within  a  circular,  oval,  or  octagonal  frame,  at  a  cost 
of  15,  25,  or  50  centesimi  apiece.  The  use  of  these 
stamped  letter  sheets,  bought  from  the  post-office, 
was  an  authority  for  their  conveyance  by  private 
means,  but  not  through  the  ordinary  channels  of  the 
■Sardinian  postal  organisation.  Thus,  while  the  Post 
Office  took  its  full  charges  for  the  conveyance  of  such 
letters,  it  did  not  perform  the  work  of  collecting, 
transmitting,  and  delivering  them.  The  three  de- 
nominations, 15,  25,  and  50  centesimij  were  used  for 
letters  conveyed  varying  distances  according  to  the 
Government  postal  tariff,  from  which,  however,  the 
actual  messenger  derived  no  benefit,  his  remuneration 
being  over  and  above  these  official  charges. 

The  next  proposal  of  stamped  covers  the  historian 
has  to  note,  is  that  embodied  in  a  Bill  introduced  in 
the  Swedish  Riksdag,  March  3,  1823,  by  Lieutenant 
Curry  Gabriel  Treffenberg.  His  proposals  included  : 
"  Stamped  paper  of  varying  values,  to  be  used  as 
wrappers  for  letters,  should  be  introduced  and  kept 
for  sale  in  the  cities  by  the  Chartae  Sigillatse  deputies, 
or  by  other  persons  appointed  for  that  purpose  by 
the  General  Chartae  Sigillatse  Office  at  Stockholm, 
and  in  the  rural  districts,  by  the  sheriffs  and  other 
private  persons."  Private  persons  were  to  be  granted 
the  privilege  of  selling  these  "Postage  Charts"  by 
the  local  officials  representing  the  Crown  authorities 
on  obtaining  proper  security. 


92         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  ^STAMPS 

The  actual  proposals  for  the  distinguishing  character 
of  the  stamped  covers  were  : — 

"  The  Postage  Charts  should  be  made  of  the  size 
of  an  ordinary  letter  sheet,  but  without  being  folded 
lengthwise  as  these  are.  The  paper  should  be  strong 
but  not  coarse,  and  in  order  to  make  forgery 
more  difficult,  should  contain  a  circular  design, 
easy  to  discover.  It  should  also  be  of  some  light 
colour. 

"In  the  centre  of  the  paper  two  stamps  should  be 
impressed  side  by  side,  occupying  together  a  space  of 
six  square  inches.  One  of  the  stamps  should  be 
impressed  into  the  paper  and  the  other  should  be 
printed  with  black  ink.  Both  should  contain,  besides 
the  value  of  the  Chart,  some  suitable  emblem  which 
would  be  difficult  to  imitate.  The  assortment  of 
values  should  be  made  to  meet  all  requirements." 

The  letters  were  to  be  folded  so  that  the  stamps 
would  be  outside,  and  so  easily  cancelled  or  otherwise 
marked  if  required ;  and  in  the  case  of  the  despatch 
of  packets  too  large  to  enclose  within  a  chart,  the 
latter  could  be  cut  down,  preserving  the  stamped 
portion,  which  was  to  be  sent  along  with  the  packet, 
both  packet  and  chart  bearing  marks  by  which  the 
two  could  be  identified  and  associated  in  the  course 
of  the  post. 

The  Bill  did  not  pass  the  Riksdag,  and  so  Sweden 

was  deprived  of  the  national  credit  of  giving  a  lead 

to  the  nations    of   the  world  in  a  postage-stamp 

y    system,  not  very  different  in  principle  from  that  of 

Great  Britain  in  1840. 

I  now  come  to  the  period  of  the  active  development 


r 


;5f:jvn-. 

-a 

Ju^  Crr^/i€n%^^ 

//4 

f^^M'^^^^^\ 

THE   HIGHEST   DENOMINATION,   $0   CENTESIMI,   OF   THE   SARDINIAN 
LETTER   SHEETS. 


'!  ;    •  '     ;  :?;  til.    W.    x  :'s-:  or  L>>hI)<  o\\\y\ 

'    •  i  -ONE  PENNY.-  \V.i^:ht  ,u>t  t-  fer!^^^  -. 


h 


j^^^jg^^^.' 


Jy^y' 


./y>r^^ 


'J.^-/^^'^  - 


>^^ 


ONE  OF  THE  TEMPORARY  ENVELOPES  ISSUED  FOR  THE  USE  OF 
MEMBERS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  LORDS,  PRIOR  TO  THE  ISSUE  OF 
STAMPS   AND    COVERS   TO   THE    PUBLIC,    I84O. 


93 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AN   IDEA    95 

of  the  idea,  and  so  far  from  the  stamp  being  a 
particular  invention  of  the  fourth  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  we  must  recognise  that,  beyond 
all  controversy,  the  notion — whether  for  an  impressed 
or  an  adhesive  stamp  is  of  little  matter — was  "  in  the 
air."  It  was  stated  before  the  Select  Committee  on 
Postage,  on  February  23,  1838,  by  a  Mr.  Louis, 
formerly  Superintendent  of  Mails,  that  a  plan  for 
stamped  covers  was  communicated  to  him  "  by  Mr. 
Stead  of  Yarmouth,  a  gentleman  who  has  interested 
himself  a  good  deal  about  the  Post  Office."  ^  The 
sheets  of  paper  were  to  be  stamped  and  sold  to 
persons  who  would  then  be  at  liberty  "  to  send  their 
letters  by  conveyances  not  suitable  to  Post  Office 
hours." 

The  scheme  had  been  proposed  to  the  Post  Office 
according  to  Mr.  Louis  in  his  evidence  "  many  years 
ago,"  and  it  is  attributed  by  some  writers  to  1829, 
though  I  can  trace  no  source  for  their  information  as 
to  this  date. 

The  plan,  from  the  rather  vague  remembrance  of 
the  witness  before  the  Committee,  may  have  been 
simply  one  to  introduce  the  Sardinian  method  of 
18 1 8  into  this  country,  and  in  any  case  there  are  no 
concrete  relics  of  Mr.  Stead's  ideas  in  the  shape  of 
essays.  Mr.  Charles  Whiting,  of  the  Beaufort  House 
Press,  entered  the  arena  of  postal  reform  some  time 
prior  to  March,  1830,  but  we  have  no  definite 
knowledge  of  his  proposals  previous  to  that  date. 
In  that  year   Mr.   Whiting  suggested   the    use    of 

*  "Select  Committee  on  Postage,  First  Report,  1838,"  p.  122, 
questions  1829,  1830. 


96         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

stamped  bands  for  the  prepayment  of  postage  on 
printed  matter.^ 

Mr.  Whiting  called  his  stamped  wrappers  "Go 
frees,"  and  he  is  understood  to  have  intended  the 
plan  to  extend  to  written  matter,  if  it  proved  success- 
ful in  an  experimental  trial  with  printed  matter. 
The  plan  did  not  get  a  trial,  and  no  greater  success 
attended  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Charles  Knight,  the 
celebrated  publisher,  who  suggested  stamped  wrappers 
as  a  means  of  collecting  postage  on  newspapers, 
subject  to  the  abolition  of  the  "Taxes  on  Know- 
ledge," which  were  the  occasion  of  a  vigorous 
campaign  set  on  foot  in  1834.  According  to 
Hansard^  a  resolution  was  moved  by  Mr.  Edward 
Lytton  Bulwer,  May  22,  1834,  "that  it  is  expedient 
to  repeal  the  Stamp  Duty  on  newspapers  at  the 
earliest  possible  period,"  and  in  the  course  of  the 
debate  the  member  for  Hull,  Mr.  Matthew  Davenport 
Hill,  advocating  the  payment  of  a  penny  upon  an 
unstamped  newspaper  sent  by  post,  said  :  "  To  put 
an  end  to  any  objections  that  might  be  made  as  to 
the  difficulty  of  collecting  the  money,  he  would 
adopt  the  suggestion  of  a  person  well  qualified  to 
give  an  opinion  on  the  subject — he  alluded  to 
Mr.  Knight,  the  publisher.  That  gentleman  recom- 
mended that  a  stamped  wrapper  should  be  prepared 
for  such  newspapers  as  it  was  desired  to  send  by 
post ;  and  that  each  wrapper  should  be  sold  at  the 

*  It  should  be  remembered  that  newspapers  had  for  many  years 
(since  17 12)  been  the  subject  of  a  tax,  and  until  1855,  when  the 
newspaper  tax  was  abolished,  such  papers  passed  through  the  post 
free. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AN  IDEA    97 

rate  of  a  penny  by  the  distributors  of  stamps  in  the 
same  way  as  receipt  stamps."  ^ 

Mr.  Knight  had  made  the  proposal  referred  to  in  a 
private  letter  to  Lord  Althorp,  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer.2 

The  ultimate  result  of  the  campaign  was  the 
reduction,  not  the  abolition,  of  the  Newspaper  Tax, 
and,  as  the  reduced  tax  of  one  penny  for  an  ordinary 
newspaper  included  free  transmission  in  the  post, 
there  was  no  need  for  the  adoption  of  Mr.  Knight's 
proposal  at  that  time.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however, 
that  Mr.  Knight  was  an  active  supporter  of  Rowland 
Hill's  plan  a  few  years  later,  and  that  Hill  was  not 
unaware  of  the  suggestion,  for  he  wrote  of  it  in  his 
pamphlet  that :  "  Availing  myself  of  this  excellent 
suggestion,  I  propose  the  following  arrangement : — 
Let  stamped  covers  and  sheets  of  paper  be  supplied 
to  the  public  from  the  Stamp  Office  or  Post  Office,  as 
may  be  most  convenient,  and  sold  at  such  a  price  as 
to  include  the  postage :  letters  so  stamped  might  be 
put  into  the  letter-box,  as  at  present." 

Dr.  Gray,  the  eminent  zoologist  of  the  British 
Museum  and  one  of  the  earliest  scientific  collectors 
of  postage-stamps,  made  a  somewhat  ambiguous 
claim  to  the  authorship  of  the  proposal  for  the 
prepayment  of  postage  by  means  of  stamps.  When 
challenged  by  Rowland  Hill  in  The  AthencBum^^  he 
stated  in  that  journal  that  "  I  have  simply  said  I 
believe   I   was  the  first  who  proposed   the  system 

*  Hansard^  xxxiii.,  p.  12 14. 

"  Athenceum^  No.  1836,  January  3,  1863,  p.  18. 

3  Nos.  1834  (December  20,  1862)  and  1835  (December  27,  1862). 


98         CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

of  a  small  uniform  rate  of  postage  to  be  prepaid 
by  stamps."  When  Mr.  Knight  entered  upon  the 
Athencsum  correspondence,  Dr.  Gray  reminded  him 
of  an  incident : 

"In  the  spring  of  1834  we  [Knight  and  Gray] 
were  fellow-passengers  in  the  basket  of  a  Blackheath 
coach,  when  the  subject  was  discussed.  I  then 
stated,  as  I  had  frequently  done  before  to  other 
fellow-travellers,  my  views  in  relation  to  the  pre- 
payment of  postage  by  stamps.  These  views  Mr. 
Knight  combated,  and  so  little  was  he  then  prepared 
to  adopt  them  that  he  exclaimed,  as  he  quitted  the 
coach  at  the  corner  of  Fleet  Street,  '  Gray,  you 
are  more  fit  for  Bedlam  than  for  the  British  Museum.' " 
Knight,  whose  case  has  the  advantage  of  attaining 
substantial  record  in  Hansard  and  The  Mirror  of 
Parliament^  disclaimed  any  connection  with  the 
incident,  and  left  his  friends  to  decide  "  whether  the 
language,  stated  to  have  been  used  by  me  to  a  gentle- 
man of  scientific  eminence,  would  not  have  been 
better  suited  to  a  costermonger  returning  from 
Greenwich  fair  than  to  mine." 

Mr.  Wallace,  the  member  for  Greenock,  was 
perhaps  the  first  to  turn  Rowland  Hill's  attention 
in  the  direction  of  a  serious  campaign  for  postal 
reform,  and  Wallace  succeeded  in  1837  in  getting 
a  Committee  "  to  inquire  into  the  present  rates  and 
modes  of  charging  postage,  with  a  view  to  such 
a  reduction  thereof  as  may  be  made  without  injury 
to  the  revenue ;  and  for  this  purpose,  to  examine 
especially  into  the  mode  recommended  for  charging 
and  collecting  postage  in  a  pamphlet  published  by 


*'0   f  «^:'<: 


THE   "JAMES  CHALMERS"   ESSAY. 


ROUGH  SKETCHES  IX  WATEK-COLOLKS  SUBMITTED  BY 
ROWLAND  HILL  TO  THE  CHANCELLOR  OF  THE 
EXCHEQUER   FOR   THE   FIRST   POSTAGE   STAMPS. 


99 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AN  IDEA    lOT 

Mr.  Rowland  Hill."  The  Committee  started  its 
sessions  in  February,  1838,  and  it  had  the  advantage 
of  the  reports  of  the  Commissioners  of  Post  Office 
Inquiry,  and  the  collection  of  much  valuable  material 
by  a  Mercantile  Committee,  of  which  Mr.  (afterwards 
Sir)  Henry  Cole  was  secretary. 

The  proposals  from  this  time  on,  till  the  issue  of 
the  stamps,  were  numerous.  The  Commissioners  of 
Post  Office  Inquiry  had  printed  samples  of  several 
suggested  letter-sheets  for  use  by  the  London  Dis- 
trict post,  in  their  "Ninth  Report,  1837."  Mr.  J.  W. 
Parker,  of  the  Cambridge  Bible  Warehouse,  West 
Strand,  London,  printed  a  somewhat  similar  letter- 
sheet,  with  advertisement  on  the  reverse,  which  was 
circulated  with  W.  H.  Ashurst's  "  Facts  and  Reasons 
in  support  of  Mr.  Rowland  Hill's  plan  for  a  Universal 
Penny  Postage,"^  and  Mr.  James  Chalmers  of  Dundee 
first  communicated  to  the  Mercantile  Committee 
a  proposal  that  stamped  slips  should  be  printed  at 
the  Stamp  Office  on  prepared  paper,  furnished  with 
adhesive  matter  on  the  back.  These  slips  were  to 
be  sold  to  the  public,  and  affixed  by  senders  to 
their  letters;  and  postmasters  were  to  deface  the 
stamps  in  the  course  of  the  post.  He  included  two 
specimens ;  similar  specimens  were  submitted  by 
Chalmers  to  the  Treasury  in  the  same  year. 

In  1839,  t^^  fi^st  uniform  postage  Act  (2  and  3 
Vict.  c.  52)  was  passed,  and  the  Lords  of  the 
Treasury,  in  preparing  to  give  effect  to  the  plan 
of  Rowland  Hill,  extended  an  invitation  to  "  artists, 
men  of  science  and  the  public  in  general  "  to  submit 

*  Second  edition  1838. 


iOSr      CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

proposals  in  competition  for  prizes  of  ;f  200  and  ;£"ioo, 
for  the  best  and  next  best  proposals.  My  Lords 
stated  that  in  the  course  of  the  inquiries  and  discus- 
sions on  the  subject,  several  plans  were  suggested, 
viz.^  stamped  covers,  stamped  paper,  and  stamps  to 
be  used  separately,  and  "  the  points  which  the  Board 
consider  of  the  greatest  importance  are : — 

"  I.  The  convenience  as  regards  the  public  use. 

"2.  The  security  against  forgery. 

"  3.  The  facility  of  being  checked  and  distinguished 
at  the  Post  Office,  which  must  of  necessity  be 
rapid. 

"  4.  The  expense  of  the  production  and  circulation 
of  the  stamps." 
The  contest  brought  in  about  2,700  suggestions,  and 
although  none  was  actually  adopted,  the  suggestions 
contained  in  some  were  deemed  of  value.  The 
Treasury  increased  the  amount  of  prizes  to  ;f400, 
dividing  that  sum  equally  between  Mr.  Benjamin 
Cheverton,  Mr.  Charles  Whiting,  Mr.  Henry  Cole, 
and  Messrs.  Perkins,  Bacon  &  Co.  Mr.  Stead  of 
Norwich,  Mr.  John  Dickinson,  the  paper-maker,  Mr. 
R.  W.  Sievier,  the  sculptor,  Mr.  S.  Henderson  of 
Dalkeith  and  others  were  included  amongst  the  com- 
petitors. Until  recently,  however,  little  or  nothing 
has  been  known  as  to  the  nature  of  these  suggestions, 
except  that  the  majority  were  impracticable ;  but 
it  is  on  record  that  Mr.  Charles  Whiting  sent  in  at 
least  one  hundred  samples,  embodying  his  ideas  or 
illustrative  of  designs  and  methods  of  duplication 
in  use  at  his  printing  establishment. 

However,  in  May,  1910,  an  article  which  I   con- 


HITHERTO  UNPUBLISHED  EXAMPLES  OF  THE  PROPOSALS 
SUBMITTED  TO  THE  LORDS  OF  THE  TREASURY  IN 
1839  IN  COMPETITION  FOR  PRIZES  OFFERED  IN  CON- 
NECTION WITH  THE  PENNY  POSTAGE  PLAN. 

{From  the  Author's  Collection.) 


103 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AN  IDEA    105 

tributed  to  The  Daily  Mail  brought  from  the 
daughter  of  Mr.  Cheverton  a  letter  in  which  she 
made  the  interesting  statement  that  her  late  father's 
papers  relating  to  the  proposals  made  by  him  in  1839 
were  still  in  her  possession.  She  very  kindly  pro- 
mised me  a  sight  of  them. 

Enthusiasts  know  how  difficult  it  is,  when  on 
the  verge  of  an  anticipated  discovery,  to  possess 
their  souls  in  patience,  hoping  for  at  least  a  sight 
of  the  find ;  but  my  patience  in  this  case  was  un- 
availing, for  the  next  I  heard  of  the  treasured  papers 
and  the  dies  was — and  this  is  some  consolation — that 
they  were  in  the  capable  hands  of  the  Earl  of  Craw- 
ford, who  prepared  and  subsequently  read  before 
the  Royal  Philatelic  Society  a  scholarly  reconstruc- 
tion of  Cheverton's  plan. 

Fortune,  however,  made  me  some  compensation 
shortly  afterwards.  The  upheaval  and  dispersal  of 
an  old  store  of  rubbish  and  unconsidered  trifles 
brought  into  my  possession  a  considerable  parcel 
of  papers  accumulated  by  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury 
in  response  to  their  invitation  of  1839,  and  which, 
after  lying  hidden  for  nearly  three-quarters  of  a 
century,  have  fortunately  escaped  total  destruction 
in  the  year  of  grace  191 1. 

The  suggestions  are  mostly  crude  designs  in  the 
form  of  pencil  or  crayon  work  on  envelopes,  pen 
and  ink  drawings  for  adhesive  labels,  and  in  one 
case  the  latter  were  made  up  in  such  form  as  to 
suggest  how  the  labels  would  be  printed  in  sheets. 
The  unravelling  of  the  plans  for  which  these  various 
suggestions  were  made  is  not  yet  complete,  but  they 

6 


106       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

will,  I  trust,  yield  to  further  investigation  and  admit 
of  extensive  description  in  a  forthcoming  work  in 
which  Mr.  Charles  Nissen  is  collaborating  with 
me  on  the  subject  of  British  essays  and  proofs  for 
postage-stamps. 

It  was  towards  the  end  of  1839  that  Mr.  Henry 
Cole  visited  Messrs.  Perkins,  Bacon  &  Co.,  then  at 
Fleet  Street,  and  told  them  that  the  idea  of  the 
authorities  was  that  the  adhesive  labels  should  be 
about  one  square  inch  in  size,  and  on  December  3, 
1839,  that  firm  submitted  their  first  estimate  of  not 
exceeding  eightpence  per  thousand,  nor  less  than 
sixpence  per  thousand,  the  price  being  exclusive  of 
paper.  The  process  by  which  they  were  to  be 
produced  is  the  now  well-known  system  known  as 
the  "  Perkins  mill  and  die "  process,  a  method  of 
production  which  was  adopted  in  due  course,  and  has 
never  been  superseded  for  the  production  of  artistic 
stamps. 

The  history  of  the  making  of  the  stamp,  the  com- 
bination of  the  art  of  Wyon,  Corbould,  and  Heath, 
I  have  dealt  with  elsewhere,  so  I  turn  to  the  envelope 
plan.  Stamped  covers,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been 
used  in  Sardinia  in  i8i8  and,  in  a  different  fashion, 
in  Paris  as  early  as  1653.  In  1838,  while  Britain 
was  in  the  throes  of  the  postal  agitation.  New  South 
Wales  actually  issued  and  used  embossed  envelopes, 
which  were  sold  in  Sydney  at  is.  3d.  per  dozen 
sheets.  The  embossed  design  consisted  of  the  royal 
coat  of  arms  of  William  IV.  enclosed  in  a  circular 
frame,  bearing  the  words  "  General  Post  Office — New 
South  Wales." 


% 

^ 

//  ^^-^  /L^.^^^ 

^ 

yy^     ^^ 

^  / 

P'l.JL^ 

'-l^^'Z^y^ 

/ 

THE    ADDRESS    SIDE    OF    THE    MODEL    LETTER    WHICH    HAS    THE 
STAMP  (SHOWN  BELOW)  AFFIXED  TO  THE  BACK  AS  A  SEAL. 


yy    A^/y^^if^^^  ^.     e^  /'^■^-o^  A^ 


ANOTHER     OF    THE    UNPUBLISHED     ESSAYS     SUBMITTED    IN    THE 
COMPETITION   OF   1839   FOR  THE   PENNY   POSTAGE   PLAN. 

{From  the  Author's  Collection.) 
107 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  AN  IDEA    109 

The  envelope  proposals  that  were  before  the 
Treasury  in  1839  consisted  mainly  of  rough  sketches, 
but  in  a  few  cases  of  elaborate  printed  designs 
{e.g.y  Harwood's  envelope),  and  the  patterns  made  up 
of  intricate  geometrical  work  like  the  specimens  in 
Ashurst's  "  Facts  and  Reasons "  and  the  "  Ninth 
Report."  Cole  called  upon  Mr.  William  Mul- 
ready  and  invited  him  to  draw  a  design  for  the 
envelope,  and  it  was  decided  that  this  design  should 
be  printed  on  the  paper  with  the  silk  threads  em- 
bedded in  its  substance,  a  paper  which  has  since  been 
known  to  philatelists  as  "  Dickinson  "  paper,  after  the 
name  of  its  inventor.  Mr.  Dickinson  had  all  along 
been  keenly  interested  in  the  proposals  for  postage 
reform,  and  was  a  witness  before  the  Select  Com- 
mittee in  1837,  providing  paper  with  threads  in  it 
for  the  essays  in  the  Report.  Many  of  the  chief 
officials  and  the  agitators  were  convinced  of  the 
protection  that  this  paper  offered  against  forgery, 
and  it  is  not  generally  known — I  mention  it  as 
specimens  of  the  paper  are  by  no  means  commonly 
met  with — that  Mr.  Dilke  was  so  convinced  of  the 
importance  of  the  use  of  this  paper  that  he  printed 
the  entire  issue  of  The  Athenceum  for  April  28,  1838, 
on  the  thread  paper. ^  Mr.  Dickinson's  firm  was  at 
that  time  supplying  the  regular  Athenceum  paper. 

Among  the  rarities  for  which  collectors,  even 
general  collectors,  will  pay  high  prices  are  the 
temporary  letter-covers  prepared  in  January,  1840,  to 
give  members   of    Parliament  the  first  privilege  of 

*  Mr.  John  Collins  Francis  refers  to  this  issue  in  his  two  volumes, 
"John  Francis  and  The  Athernxunty^  published  by  Bentley  in  1888. 


110       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

using  the  penny  "post-frees."  There  are  several 
kinds  with  inscriptions  reading  "  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment," "  House  of  Lords,"  and  "  House  of  Commons." 
These  were  in  use  from  January  i6th,  but  their 
great  rarity  suggests  that  the  use  of  them  was  not 
extensive.  That,  no  doubt,  was  attributable  to  the 
injunction,  "  To  be  posted  at  the  House  of  .  .  . 
only." 

The  public  in  London  first  saw  the  stamps  on 
May  I,  1840,  when  Sir  Rowland  Hill  reports, 
"Great  bustle  at  the  Stamp  Office" — £2,soo  worth 
were  sold  on  the  first  day.  They  did  not  come  into 
use,  however,  until  May  6th,  when  Sir  Henry  Cole 
went  to  the  Post  Office  and  reported  that  "about 
half  the  letters  were  stamped." 

The  envelopes,  covers  and  labels  were  issued 
simultaneously.  Within  six  days  the  "  labels  "  won 
the  race  for  popular  favour.  "  I  fear,"  wrote  Hill 
on  May  12th,  "we  shall  be  obliged  to  substitute 
some  other  stamp  for  that  designed  by  Mulready, 
which  is  abused  and  ridiculed  on  all  sides.  ...  I 
am  already  turning  my  attention  to  the  substitution 
of  another  stamp,  combining  with  it,  as  the  public 
have  shown  their  disregard  and  even  distaste  for 
beauty,  some  further  economy  in  the  production." 

Sir  Rowland  Hill  was  perhaps  pardonably  piqued 
at  the  success  which  the  label  won  from  the  start, 
at  the  expense  of  the  elaborate  envelope  design  on 
which  the  artistic  ideals  of  both  Cole  and  Hill  had 
set  their  hopes.^      It   was   not   the  public   lack   of 

^  It  is  said  to  have  cost  ;^  1,000;  the  art  of  the  label  cost,  to 
Mr.  Corbould  ;^I2  I2s.,  to  Mr.  Heath  ^CS^  lOs. 


Ill 


112       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

appreciation  of  beauty  or  art,  but  their  ready 
selection  of  the  convenient  and  the  practical,  instead 
of  the  imaginative  and  sentimental,  and,  it  must  be 
admitted,  very  impracticable,  design  for  the  envelopes 
and  covers.  More  than  two  decades  later — May, 
1863 — Sir  Rowland  Hill,  writing  to  Signor  Perazzi, 
who  was  making  inquiries  on  behalf  of  the  Italian 
authorities,  said,  "  I  do  consider  them  [stamped 
envelopes]  as  of  real  use  to  the  public,  although  the 
small  proportion  used  (not  more  than  i  per  cent.,  I 
believe),  shows  that  the  demand  for  them  is  com- 
paratively insignificant" 


m 

SOME 

EARLY 

PIONEERS 

OF 

PHILATELY 


CHAPTER  III 

SOME  EARLY  PIONEERS  OF  PHILATELY 

**  Hobbyhorsical  "  collections — The  application  ot  the  term  "  Foreign 
Stamp  Collecting" — The  Stamp  Exchange  in  Birchin  Lane — 
A  celebrated  lady  stamp-dealer — The  Saturday  rendezvous  at  the 
All  Hallows  Staining  Rectory — Prominent  collectors  of  the  first 
period — The  first  stamp  catalogues — The  words  Philately  and 
Timbrologic — Philatelic  periodicals — Justin  Lallier's  albums — The 
Philatelic  Society,  London. 

We  have  already  seen  something  of  the  growth  of 

the  postage-stamp  idea  among  the  nations  of  the 

world.     It  will  now  be  convenient  for  us  to  discuss 

the  manner  in  which  these  postage-stamps  first  came 

to   be   regarded   in   the  light   of  objets  de  curiositi. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  postage-stamp  system 

there  is  no  doubt  many  people  of  advanced  ideas 

took  a  very  keen  interest  in  the  success  of  the  new 

institution.      The  accumulating   of  the  stamps  by 

individuals   began   almost    immediately    after  their 

issue  in    1840,  as  is  clear   from   the  advertisement 

in    The  Times  of  1841    in   which   "  A  young  lady 

being  desirous  of  covering  her  dressing  room  with 

cancelled    postage-stamps "    invited    the    assistance 

of  strangers  in  her  fanciful  project.    This  is  probably 

lis 


116       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

typical  of  the  character  and  motif  of  the  collecting 
until  circa  1850,  and  Punch's  quip  (1842)  that  the 
ladies  of  England  betrayed  more  anxiety  to  treasure 
up  Queen's  heads  than  King  Henry  VIII.  did 
to  get  rid  of  them,  has  served  to  perpetuate  the 
popular  early  definition  of  the  stamps  of  the 
Victorian  reign  as  "  Queen's  heads." 

This  form  of  collecting  was  "  hobbyhorsical "  in 
the  extreme ;  it  recognised  no  other  objects  than 
the  attainment  of  numbers,  or  the  production  of 
a  new  form  of  wall-paper,  using  the  old  stamps 
as  the  tessercB  of  a  mosaic.  At  these  times  collect- 
ing was  probably  considered  a  test  of  the  bona  fides 
of  philanthropic  appellants,  for  we  trace  to  the 
earliest  decade  of  stamp  issuing  the  popular  notion 
that  the  accumulated  treasure  of  a  million  of  old 
stamps  will  provide  an  "  open  sesame  "  for  an  orphan 
into  a  home,  or  that  in  old  age  one  may  find  a 
haven  of  rest  in  an  asylum.  There  is  the  grain 
of  truth  in  the  latter  prospect  which  is  sufficient 
to  perpetuate  a  great  error.  To  take  a  million 
stamps  collected  from  old  letters  to  any  asylum 
might  well  ensure  a  ready  admittance  and  hospitable 
retention. 

It  was  during  the  middle  'fifties  that  schoolboys 
began  to  give  their  attention  to  the  "  foreign  stamp 
collecting."  I  say  "  foreign "  advisedly,  for  the 
early  interest  was  almost  entirely  centred  in  the 
stamp  issues  of  other  countries,  and  it  pleased  the 
youthful  mind  to  receive  specimens  from  Brazil  or 
the  United  States.  The  stamps  which  passed  in 
the  post  before  his  own  eyes  every  day  were  treated 


EARLY  PIONEERS  OF  PHILATELY    117 

with  the  contempt  that  is  bred  of  familiarity.  In 
later  years  the  old  designation  of  "  foreign  stamp 
collecting"  is  by  no  means  correct  as  applied  to 
the  scope  of  modern  Philately.  Patriotism  had  led 
the  fashion  of  the  time  to  the  cult  of  the  stamps 
of  our  own  nation  and  its  possessions. 

There  are  several  claims  to  priority  of  interest 
in  collecting  stamps  which  have  been  put  forward 
in  recent  years.  Mr.  E.  S.  Gibbons  is  said  to  have 
collected  when  at  school  in  1854.  He  was  then 
fourteen,  having  been  born  in  the  year  of  the 
introduction  of  postage  stamps.  He  is  said  to 
have  been  dealing  in  stamps  about  1856.  Mr.  W. 
S.  Lincoln  tells  of  an  album  still  in  his  possession 
inscribed  "Collection  of  stamps  made  by  W. 
Lincoln  1854."  The  memoranda  in  that  book 
are: 

"  1854,  210  varieties. 
1855,  310  varieties." 

In  the  following  year  (1856)  he  was  exchanging 
stamps  with  another  collector. 

The  late  editor  of  Le  Timbre-Poste  (Brussels), 
M.  J.  B.  Moens,  started  collecting  about  1855, 
and  produced  the  earliest  of  the  continental  periodi- 
cals devoted  exclusively  to  philately  from  1863- 
1900.  His  earliest  English  rival  of  any  pretensions, 
The  Stamp  Collector's  Magazine^  was  edited  by  Dr. 
C.  W.  Viner,  whose  interest  in  the  subject  begajm 
about  1855  by  assisting  a  lady  friend  to  form  a 
chart  representative  of  the  postage-stamps  of  the 
world.  This  simple  form  of  collecting  was  evidently 
much  in  vogue  in  the  later  'fifties  and  remained 


118       OHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

during  the  next  decade,  and  a  photograph  of  one 
of  these  taken  in  the  'sixties  will  be  found  among 
the  illustrations.  It  was  not  until  i860  that  Dr. 
Viner  took  up  the  pursuit  on  his  own  behalf.  And 
with  i860  and  the  next  few  years  we  have  evidences 
of  the  spread  of  the  newer  form  of  stamp-collecting, 
which  was  to  givQ  the  pursuit  the  scientific  interest 
and  value  which  were  to  ensure  its  permanence 
and  to  make  it  in  the  present  year  of  grace  the 
most  widely  popular  of  all  collecting  hobbies.  In 
those  days  collections  were  limited  by  the  com- 
paratively small  number  of  stamps  that  had  been 
issued,  but  even  then  the  phantom  of  completeness 
was  not  within  reach.  "  I  remember  counting  my 
stamps  with  much  glee  when  they  reached  a 
hundred,"  wrote  Dr.  Viner  in  1889.  "  I  saw  some 
collections  with  two  or  three  hundred,  and  keard 
of  one  with  five  hundred.  Cancelled  specimens 
were  principally  seen ;  but  I  can  recall  one  collection 
rich  in  unused  Naples,  Sicily,  Tuscany,  and  other 
Italian  States  purchased  at  their  several  post-offices 
by  a  young  traveller." 

It  is  very  significant  that  the  collectors  of  this 
early  period  of  whom  any  records  are  preserved 
were  mostly  men  of  culture  and  of  position.  The 
boy  was  still  the  main  influence  and  in  a  majority, 
but  he  was  in  stamp-collecting  the  father  to  the 
man.  The  historic  and  scientific  possibilities  of 
the  pursuit  were  still  but  dimly  recognised  by  the 
mass  of  collectors.  An  active  exchange  of  stamps 
had  been  carried  on  from  about  i860  in  Birchin 
Lane,  London,  where  crowds  of  youngsters  used  to 


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A   POSTAGE   STAMP    "CHART  "—ONE    OF    THE    EARLY    FORMS   OF 
STAMP-COLLECTING. 


119 


EARLY  PIONEERS  OF  PHILATELY    121 

meet  and  exchange  stamps.  They  were  frequently 
joined  by  their  elders.  Fifty  to  a  hundred  barterers 
of  all  ages  and  ranks  and  of  both  sexes  were 
there  in  the  evenings  of  the  spring  of  1862.  "We 
have  seen  one  of  Her  Majesty's  Ministry  there,"  says 
The  Stamp  Collector's  Magazine  of  1863.  Charac- 
teristic examples  of  the  conversation  at  these  gather- 
ings were  given  in  the  same  magazine :  "  Have  you 
a  yellow  Saxon  ?  " — "  I  want  a  Russian  " — "  I'll  give 
a  red  Prussian  for  a  blue  Brunswicker " — "  Will 
you  exchange  a  Russian  for  a  black  .English?  " — "  I 
wouldn't  give  a  Russian  for  twenty  English."  The 
date  attributed  to  these  overheard  remarks  is  1861. 
The  police  intervened  later  and  the  exchanging  p 
had  to  be  done  more  or  less  surreptitiously.  But  / 
still  the  group  formed  in  the  neighbouring  alleys, 
and  still  included  the  Cabinet  Minister  and  "  ladies, 
album  in  hand,"  and  it  is  recorded  that  one  of  the 
ladies  "  contrived  to  effect  a  highly  advantageous 
exchange  of  a  very  so-so  specimen  for  a  rarity, 
with  a  young  friend  of  ours,  who  salvoed  his  green- 
ness with  the  apologetic  remark  that  he  could  not 
drive  a  hard  bargain  with  a  lady." 

Similar  scenes  went  on  in  the  gardens  of  the 
Tuilleries  at  Paris,  and  in  other  cities  they  centred 
around  establishments  set  up  by  the  earliest  dealers 
in  postage  stamps.  Birchin  Lane  contained  the 
business  premises  of  at  least  one  dealer — a  lady 
— and  there  was  in  Paris,  in  the  rue  Taitbout, 
Mme.  Nicholas,  a  little  person,  "  rather  lean,  very 
active,  lively  and  intelligent,"  of  whom  M.  Mahd 
tells   in   his  reminiscences.     For  a  long  period  she 


122       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

held  "le  sceptre  dans  le  royaume  des  timbres, 
royaume  ou  la  loi  salique  n'exerce  pas  ses  injustes 
rigueurs."  A  woman  with  considerable  talent  for 
business,  she  and  her  husband  kept  a  modest  little 
reading-room  in  a  small  shop  in  the  rue  Taitbout. 
To  this  business  she  added,  possibly  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  one  of  the  Paris  amateurs  of  the  period, 
the  business  in  stamps.  Her  shop  became  the 
regular  meeting-place  of  the  dilettanti^  and  these 
were  men  of  substance  and  intelligence  who  were 
not  to  be  charged  with  following  "  fancies  too  weak 
for  boys,  too  green  and  idle  for  girls  of  nine." 

In  London,  too,  there  was  a  coterie  of  amateurs 
among  whom  were  men  of  distinction.  We  might 
trace  the  birth  of  the  higher  ideals  in  stamp  collect- 
ing in  London  to  the  rectory  adjoining  All  Hallows 
Staining.  Charles  Dickens  described  the  church, 
all  of  which  save  the  tower  is  now  demolished, 
as  "  a  stuffy  little  place."  The  perpetual  curate 
in  charge  of  this  old  City  living  at  the  time  of  which 
I  write  was  the  Rev.  F.  J.  Stainforth,  one  of  the 
most  zealous  promoters  of  the  hobby,  "assisting 
the  movement  by  his  well-known  readiness  to  bid 
high  for  any  real  or  supposed  rarity."  Mr.  Stain- 
forth  gathered  around  him  the  chief  of  the  serious 
collectors  of  the  period,  and  his  influence  on  the 
beginnings  of  the  study  is  probably  greater  than 
most  collectors  of  the  present  day  are  aware. 
Cultured,  amiable,  and  generous,  his  rectory  was 
a  rendezvous  for  all  seeking  information  on  the 
subject  of  stamps  and  for  those  who  had  informa- 
tion to  impart.     Perhaps  a  too  abundant  good-nature 


EARLY  PIONEERS  OF  PHILATELY    123 

occasionally  resulted  in  the  host  being  imposed 
upon,  for  it  is  said  that,  "  utterly  devoid  of  guile 
himself,  he  frequently  became  the  prey  of  much 
younger,  but  more  worldly-wise,  heads." 

But  if  there  were  those  who  abused  the  welcome 
of  the  rectory,  there  were  others  who  imparted  a 
lustre  to  the  little  gatherings  in  the  upper  room. 
Sir  Daniel  Cooper,  Bart,  the  first  Speaker  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  of  New  South  Wales,  was  one 
of  these.  He  returned  from  Australia  about  1 860-61, 
and  formed  an  important  collection  of  stamps.  He 
was  elected  first  President  of  the  Philatelic  Society 
when  that  body  was  formed  in  1869.  The  legal 
profession  was  frequently  represented  at  the  rectory 
by  Mr.  Philbrick,  afterwards  his  Honour  Judge  Phil- 
brick,  K.C.,  and  Mr.  Hughes- Hughes,  who  had  been 
called  to  the  Bar  in  1842.  There  was  also  a  physi- 
cian in  Dr.  Viner,  a  young  merchant  in  Mr.  Mount 
Brown,  and  a  youngster  in  his  'teens,  who  occa- 
sionally travelled  to  town  to  attend  the  Saturday 
afternoon  gatherings  and  who  quickly  displayed  an 
intuition  for  the  scientific  in  philately  which  few 
have  surpassed,  and  made  the  name  of  E.  L.  Pember- 
ton  one  of  the  most  distinguished  in  the  annals  of 
philately. 

The  cult  was  not  confined  to  the  metropolis.  Most 
of  the  early  dealers  began  operations  in  the  country. 
The  first  published  list  of  stamps  for  collectors 
came  from  a  young  artist  residing  in  Brighton.  Mr. 
Frederick  Booty  was  aged  twenty  when  he  issued 
his  "Aids  to  Stamp  Collectors"  in  April,  1862.  Mr. 
Mount  Brown  was  twenty-five  when  his  "Catalogue 


124       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

of  British,  Colonial,  and  Foreign  Stamps  "  appeared 
in  May  of  the  same  year.  The  wide  difference  of 
years  among  the  enthusiasts  of  this  time  is  notable 
in  the  third  of  the  early  English  chroniclers,  Dr. 
Gray,  the  eminent  naturalist  and  all-round  scientist 
of  the  British  Museum,  who  published  his  first 
"  Hand  Catalogue  of  Postage  Stamps  "  towards  the 
end  of  1862,  the  author  being  then  sixty- two  years 
of  age. 

The  first  three  catalogues  represent  three  distinct 
independent  aspects  of  the  collecting  of  the  time. 
Booty,  of  Brighton,  coming  of  an  artistic  stock,  an 
artist  himself,  discusses  in  his  preface  the  "  great 
variety  in  execution,  colour,  and  engraving  of  the 
design,"  the  "tasteful  arrangement,"  the  whole  of  a 
collection,  in  Mr.  Booty's  view,  arranged  with  the 
embellishments  suggested  by  the  artist,  forming  "a 
handsome  appendage  to  the  drawing-room  table." 

Mr.  Mount  Brown's  catalogue  was  more  practical, 
if  less  imaginative  in  view. 

Dr.  Gray  brought  the  profundity  of  his  scientific 
training  into  his  classification  of  stamps  in  his  "  Hand 
Catalogue."  So  far  as  we  know,  he  worked  within 
the  precincts  of  the  British  Museum,  where  he  resided, 
and  had  little  association,  if  any,  with  the  rectory 
reunions.  Mr.  Overy  Taylor  (another  of  the  early 
and  able  writers  on  philately  and  the  editor  of  the 
later  editions  of  "  Gray  ")  tells  us  that  the  venerable 
scientist  regarded  stamps  as  "  the  visible  signs  of  the 
complete  realisation  of  a  system  of  communication 
which  in  his  early  maturity  was  scarcely  more  than 
a  generous  dream,  and  by  treating  them  as  such  in 


EARLY  PIONEERS   OF  PHILATELY    125 

the  preface  to  his  catalogue  he  at  once  lifted  them 
above  the  level  of  mere  meaningless  curiosities." 
The  same  writer  points  out  that  Dr.  Gray,  "  bringing 
to  the  task  the  habits  and  predilections  acquired  in 
the  classification  of  zoological  specimens,  attached 
no  importance  to  colour;  to  him  the  design  was 
everything  ;  and  whether  printed  in  black  on  coloured 
paper  or  in  coloured  ink  on  white  was  to  him  of 
very  little  importance.  The  intricacies  of  design  he 
described  with  the  utmost  minuteness,  and  some  of 
the  terms  he  introduced  into  his  description  have 
been  generally  adopted." 

The  early  continental  catalogues  showed  a  similar 
diversity  of  treatment  of  the  subject.  The  first  lists 
of  M.  Frangois  George  Oscar  Berger-Levrault  (1861) 
were  mere  twelve-page  indices  to  the  stamps  known 
to  the  compiler,  and  were  printed  by  autographic 
lithography  at  Strasbourg. 

The  first  edition  of  the  catalogue  of  Alfred  Poti- 
quet  was  the  first  regularly  published  guide  for  the 
amateur.  Its  first  edition,  the  rarest  of  the  items 
in  the  collections  of  the  philatelic  bibliophiles,  was 
dated  from  Paris,  1862,  but  was  actually  issued  at 
the  end  of  1861.  The  author,  who  was  an  employe 
of  the  French  Ministry,  essayed  to  present  his  cata- 
logue in  a  geographical  classification,  but  abandoned 
it  in  favour  of  the  alphabetical  arrangement  as  "  le 
plus  commode."  His  descriptions,  though  in  many 
cases  now  known  to  be  inaccurate,  were  for  the  most 
part  very  minute,  and  he  notes  variations  in  shade, 
the  method  of  production  {lithographies^  gravis  en 
tailk'douce^  typographies  and,  more  remarkable  still, 

7 


126       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

he    states    when    the    specimens     are    perforated 
(^piques). 

The  catalogue  of  Francois  Valette — "  P^re  Valette," 
as  the  juniors  of  the  time  used  to  call  him — is  the 
most  remarkable  of  all  the  early  works  of  this  kind. 
It  was  more  ambitious  in  its  scientific  treatment  of 
the  subject.  Valette,  already  an  elderly  man  in 
1862,  was  "un  drudit,  un  demi-savant,"  perhaps  even 
a  "  savant  tout  entier."  He  was  a  contributor  to  the 
journal  La  Science  and  acting-proprietor  of  the  Bazar 
Parizer.  His  list  was  arranged  on  a  synoptic  basis, 
and  his  introductory  essays  are  the  most  ambi- 
tious of  any  of  the  philatelic  writings  of  1862,  the 
chapter  on  frauds  and  counterfeits  providing  a  most 
conclusive  indication  of  the  extent  to  which  stamp 
collecting  was  rapidly  becoming  a  popular  cult 
"Old  stamps  having  become  rare,  there  are  those 
who  have  sought  methods  of  counterfeiting  them." 
Valette's  "  tableaux  synoptiques "  are  typical  of  the 
remarkable  character  of  this  work,  and  may  be 
briefly  summarised  here  as  representing  three  styles 
of  classification:  (i)  Genealogical;  (2)  heraldic; 
(3)  systematic,  the  latter  being  a  scheme  for  arrang- 
ing the  stamps  according  to  their  colours  for  com- 
parison. 

It  was  in  Paris  that  the  serious  collectors  first 
began  to  systematically  note  the  watermarks  and 
to  measure  the  perforations.  The  collectors  there 
were  divided  into  two  camps  over  the  designation 
of  the  new  study.  Dr.  Legrand,  a  veteran  collector 
happily  still  with  us,  and  still  having  a  warm  regard 
for  the  objects  of  his  early  studies,  led  the  group  who 


EARLY  PIONEERS  OF  PHILATELY    127 

preferred  the  style  of  "  timbrophile,"  while  M.  G. 
Herpin  produced  by  a  combination  of  the  Greek 
words  (piXog  ("  philos  "  =  fond  of),  arEXna  ("  ateleia  " 
=  exemption  from  tax)  the  word  Philatele,  which 
was  accepted  by  many  as  indicating  their  interest  in 
the  little  labels  which  denoted  that  the  tax  or  postage 
had  been  paid.  For  a  long  time  there  was  war 
between  the  rival  camps,  and  to  this  day  while 
Philately  (ugly  word  as  it  is)  is  generally  accepted 
in  English-speaking  countries  and  in  many  other 
places,  Timbrologie  is  still  preferred  by  many  of  the 
French  collectors,  and  is  used  in  the  title  of  the  chief 
Parisian  institution,  the  Soci^t6  Fran^aise  de  Tim- 
brologie. 

Although  several  of  the  English  dealers  claim  to 
have  been  engaged  in  the  business  prior  to  1862,  the 
study  of  stamps  has  been  reduced  to  so  exact  a 
science  that  students  are  sceptical  of  mere  reminis- 
cence and  require  documental  evidence  to  support 
claims  of  this  kind.  These  should  be  forthcoming 
in  advertisements  in  periodicals  of  the  time,  most  of 
which  have  been  thoroughly  searched  by  the  his- 
torian, and  in  early  dated  lists.  In  the  order  of 
their  first  known  appearances  in  print  as  dealers  Mr. 
P.  J.  Anderson,  of  the  Aberdeen  University  Library, 
records  from  The  Boys'  Own  Magazine^  1862,  Mount 
Brown,  J.  J.  Woods,  Henry  R.  Victor,  of  Belfast,  H. 
Stafford  Smith,  of  Bath  (September,  1862,  founder  of 
Stafford  Smith  and  Smith,  now  Alfred  Smith  &  Son), 
Edward  L.  Pemberton  (October),  and  "  Wm.  Lincoln, 
jr.,  at  W.  S.  Lincoln  &  Sons"  (December,  1862).  Of 
these  the  veteran  Mr.  Lincoln  is  still  engaged  in  the 


128       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

business  of  stamp-dealing,  as  also  are  a  son  of 
Alfred  Smith  and  a  son  of  Edward  L.  Pemberton. 

In  1862  the  special  periodical  literature  of  the  new 
cult  began  with  The  Monthly  Advertiser  (December 
15th),  though  The  Monthly  Intelligencer  and  Contro- 
versialist^ published  a  few  months  earlier  (September), 
had  been  chiefly,  but  not  wholly,  devoted  to  stamp- 
collecting.  In  1863  The  Stamp  Collector's  Magazine 
was  founded,  and  this  publication  achieved  a  splendid 
record  during  the  twelve  years  of  its  existence  and 
laid  the  basis  of  much  of  what  is  accurate  and  pre- 
cise in  our  knowledge  of  the  early  issues  of  stamps. 
Le  Timbre' Poste^  of  Brussels  (i  863-1 900),  shared 
with  its  British  contemporary  a  high  place  in  the 
records  of  the  period  and  enjoyed  a  much  longer  life 
of  thirty-eight  years,  the  publication  having  only 
ceased  upon  the  retirement  of  its  founder,  M.  J.  B. 
Moens.  The  beginning  having  been  made,  it  must 
soon  have  become  apparent  that  there  was  something 
in  stamp-collecting  which  called  for  an  extensive 
periodical  literature  ;  the  output  practically  ever  since 
has  been  extremely  prolific.  These  and  almost 
countless  monographs  have  swelled  the  libraries  of 
the  philatelic  bibliophiles  to  an  extent  which  must 
impress,  if  not  necessarily  convince,  the  unbeliever  in 
the  fact  of  there  being  some  real  basis  of  interest  and 
value  to  not  merely  stimulate  the  cacoethes  scribendiy 
but  also  to  justify  so  vast  a  number  of  printers'  bills. 

The  albums  of  Justin  Lallier  date  back  to  1862, 
and  the  name  is  one  with  which  to  conjure  in  these 
days.  To  describe  an  old  collection  for  sale  as  in  a 
"Lallier"  so   piques  the  curiosity  of  many  buyers 


EARLY  PIONEERS  OF  PHILATELY    129 

that  I  wot  there  are  many  such  old  collections  made 
up  in  these  days  upon  the  basis  of  an  old  discarded 
album  of  the  'sixties  or  'seventies,  and  offered  as 
tempting  baits  at  the  auctions.  Lallier  is  said  to 
have  been  no  philatelist,  and  probably  that  is  correct 
enough,  for  those  early  albums  had  their  spaces 
so  arranged  that  the  collectors  of  long  ago  were 
led  to  trim  their  fine  "  octagonals  "  to  shape,  and  to 
otherwise  vandalise  choice  items  by  removing  in- 
tegral portions  of  them  to  beautify  the  purely  com- 
mercially issued  works  which  were  intended  to  be 
"elegant  appendages  to  the  drawing-room  table," 
a  character  which,  if  it  did  not  imply  deep  study, 
certainly  gave  the  stamp  album  of  those  days  a 
place  second  only  in  veneration  and  respect  to  the 
Family  Bible. 

Arising  out  of  the  gatherings  at  Mr.  Stainforth's 
rectory  there  grew  up  in  1869  the  Philatelic  Society 
of  London,  which  started  its  auspicious  career  under 
the  presidency  of  Sir  Daniel  Cooper,  Bart.,  and  has  a 
roll  of  Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents  more  distin- 
guished than  almost  any  other  learned  society  can 
claim.  It  may  fittingly  close  my  third  chapter  if 
I  give  an  outline  of  this  notable  succession,  adding 
only  that  in  November,  1906,  His  Majesty  King 
Edward  VII.  graciously  allowed  the  Society  the 
style  and  dignity  of  the  prefix  "Royal,"  and  that 
throughout  its  long  career  of  usefulness  the  work 
of  the  Society  has  been  strengthened  by  numerous 
other  bodies  of  enthusiasts  who  have  formed  societies 
in  the  metropolis,  in  the  provinces  and  abroad,  ex- 
tending the  popularity  of  the  stamp  collector's  hobby 


130       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

in  every  country  which  has  seen  the  dawn  of  civilisa- 
tion, and  moreover  creating  a  bond  of  universal 
brotherhood  which  makes  Philately  a  world-wide 
Freemasonry,  and  an  "  open  sesame  "  to  the  fellow- 
ship and  hospitality  of  collectors  everywhere. 


ROLL  OF  PRESIDENTS  AND  VICE-PRESI- 
DENTS  OF  THE  ROYAL  PHILATELIC 
SOCIETY,  LONDON. 

Presidents. 

Sir  Daniel  Cooper,  Bart,  F.R.G.S.,  April  lo,  1869. 

His  Honour  Judge  F.  A.  Philbrick,  K.C.  (elected 
when  Mr.  Philbrick),  July  20,  1878. 

H.R.H.  the  Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  K.G. 
(Hon.  President),  (elected  when  Duke  of  Edinburgh), 
December  19,  1890. 

The  Earl  of  Kingston,  May  20,  1892. 

His  Majesty  King  George  V.  (elected  when  Duke 
of  York),  May  29,  1896. 

The  Earl  of  Crawford,  K.T.,  June  16,  1910. 

Vice-Presidents. 

His  Honour  Judge  F.  A.  Philbrick,  K.C.  (elected 
when  Mr.  Philbrick),  April  10,  1869. 

V.  G.  de  Ysasi,  Esq.,  May  20,  1880. 

T.  K.  Tapling,  Esq.,  M.P.,  November  5,  1881. 

M.  P.  Castle,  Esq.,  J.P.,  May  29,  1891. 

His  Majesty  King  George  V.  (Hon.  Vice-President), 
(elected  when  Duke  of  York),  March  10,  1893. 

The  Earl  of  Crawford,  K.T.,  June  13,  1902. 

M.  P.  Castle,  Esq.,  J. P.  (Hon.  Vice-President,  June 
13,  1902),  June  16,  1910. 


m 


IV 

ON 

FORMING  A 
COLLECTION 


CHAPTER  IV 

ON    FORMING  A  COLLECTION 

The  cost  of  packet  collections— The  beginner's  album— Acces- 
sories— Preparation  of  stamps  for  mounting — The  requirements 
of  "  condition  "—The  use  of  the  stamp-hinge— A  suggestion  for 
the  ideal  mount — A  handy  gauge  for  use  in  arranging  stamps — 
**Writing-up." 

It  may  be  reasonable  to  judge  a  philatelist  by  the 
stamps  he  has,  rather  than  by  the  way  in  which 
he  puts  them  together  in  his  collection.  Yet  none 
can  have  justice  in  the  process  unless  he  has  given 
due  attention  to  order  and  method.  Postage-stamps, 
more  perhaps  than  any  other  objets  de  collectionner^ 
are  well  suited  to  neat,  orderly  arrangement  and 
effective  display,  with  a  minimum  of  house-room. 
This  very  suitability  and  convenience  make  some 
collectors  careless  of  the  arrangement  of  their  speci- 
mens, especially  the  commoner  issues,  but  I  would 
have  everyone  treat  stamps  rare  or  common  with 
the  same  tenderness,  and  with  a  keen  eye  to  the 
beauty  of  their  arrangement.  A  rare  stamp  in  itself 
has  little  significance ;  it  requires  to  be  allocated 
to  its  fitting  place  in  the  mosaic  of  stamp-issues 
comprising  a  collection,  and  there  can  be  no  beauty 

185 


136       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

in  a  few  rare  stamps  if  there  has  been  no  proper 
care  exercised  in  the  selection  and  arrangement  of 
the  accompanying  issues  which  go  to  complete  the 
picture. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  more  than 
briefly  discuss  the  methods  of  starting  to  collect 
stamps,  but  it  may  serve  some  useful  purpose  to 
indicate  a  sound  method  of  establishing  a  good  start. 
The  prime  necessity  to  the  collector  is  stamps — if  he 
be  an  enthusiast  he  can  never  have  too  many.  But 
at  the  outset,  if  he  have  none,  the  best  start  is  in  one 
of  the  numerous  packet  collections,  the  stamps  in 
which  are  all  different.  These  are  sold  by  all 
dealers,  and  a  fair  price  for  such  packets  is  indicated 
in  the  following  scale: —  | 

per  packet*; 


500  varieties  from 

3s. 

6d. 

to 

4s.     pe 

1,000        „ 

1 2s. 

to 

15s. 

1,500 

30s. 

to 

35s. 

2,000        „ 

4SS. 

to 

£^ 

3.000        „ 

;^8 

to 

£S  los. 

4.000        „ 

;^I3 

lOS. 

to 

£h 

Such  packets  contain  the  commoner  stamps,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  but  they  are  a  necessity  to  the 
general  collection,  which  is  made  up  of  all  grades 
of  common  to  rare  specimens. 

The  album  for  the  beginner  should  be  a  small 
inexpensive  one,  the  importance  of  keeping  the  small 
collection  compact  being  that  it  is  more  readily  com- 
prehensible than  if  scattered  meagrely  through  a 
wilderness  of  blank,  or  nearly  blank,  pages.  If 
the  stamps  are  carefully  arranged  in  a  small  album. 


ON  FORMING  A  COLLECTION       137 

a  rare  delight  will  be  found  later  on,  when  the  col- 
lection is  bulging  the  first  album  covers,  in  transfer- 
ring it  to  a  more  commodious  home.  But  at  the 
outset  too  many  beginners  waste  their  substance 
in  an  elaborate  album  instead  of  on  the  all-important 
stamps.  They  buy  cumbersome  volumes  in  which 
the  collection  in  embryo  is  lost.  They  should  realise 
from  the  start  that  the  purpose  of  the  album  is  to 
assist  in  the  formation  of  the  collection,  by  keeping 
the  stamps  easy  of  access  for  reference  and   study. 

A  supply  of  stamp-hinges  or  "  mounts  "  should  be 
acquired  at  the  outset  (their  use  is  explained  here- 
after), and  a  pair  of  tweezers — the  kinds  sold  by 
stamp-dealers  are  the  most  suitable — the  points  of 
which  should  not  be  too  sharp  or  pointed,  lest  they 
penetrate  into  the  delicate  substance  of  a  stamp. 
The  collector  should  cultivate  the  habit  of  holding 
stamps  always  by  means  of  the  tweezers. 

A  good  catalogue  arranged  on  a  chronological 
basis  is  indispensable ;  the  beginner  will  find  the 
illustrations  in  it  of  great  assistance  in  allocating  his 
specimens  to  their  proper  places  in  the  album. 

So  much  for  the  primary  needs  of  the  beginner. 
The  general  collector,  who  is  advancing  towards  the 
large  collection,  will  probably  use  one  of  the  large 
printed  and  spaced-out  albums  provided  for  his 
needs  by  the  enterprise  of  philatelic  publishers.  He 
has  his  work  made  easy  for  him,  so  far  as  the 
identification  of  specimens  is  concerned,  and  the 
allocation  and  symmetrical  distribution  of  them 
upon  the  pages.  Being  saved  all  this,  and  nearly 
all   necessity  for  individual    annotation,  he  should 


138       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

give  his  best  attention  to  the  excellence  of  condition 
in  his  stamps  and  the  perfection  of  mounting. 

The  stamps  should  be  clean  before  they  are 
mounted,  that  is  to  say,  they  should  have  any 
superfluous  envelope-paper  removed  by  careful  float- 
ing on  warm  water,  or  by  moistening  between  damp 
sheets  of  clean  white  blotting-paper.  If  there  be 
any  extraneous  marking  or  blemish,  it  may  be  re- 
moved if  it  admits  of  removal  without  damage  to 
the  specimen.  The  result  of  atmospheric  action  on 
some  colours  (such  as  vermilion  and  ultramarine), 
which  will  frequently  be  found  to  have  turned  a  red 
or  blue  stamp  into  one  that  appears  to  be  black, 
or  at  any  rate  black  in  parts,  is  removed  by  treat- 
ment with  peroxide  of  hydrogen  applied  with  a 
camel's-hair  brush  to  the  parts  which  have  been 
affected  by  the  action  of  the  atmosphere.  The  pro- 
cess is  erroneously  called  "  de-oxidising "  by  many 
philatelists ;   it  is  really  de-sulphurisation. 

In  the  case  of  very  stubborn  specimens  with  this 
defect,  they  may  be  steeped  in  the  peroxide  and 
allowed  to  soak,  but  should  not  be  left  longer  than 
is  necessary  to  restore  the  original  fresh  colour. 

A  crease  in  an  unused  stamp  may,  if  it  has  not 
cracked  the  paper,  be  removed  by  following  the 
crease  on  the  back  of  the  stamp  with  a  fine  camel's- 
hair  brush  dipped  in  water.  The  slight  soaking 
swells  the  gum  and  enables  one  to  gently  press 
the  paper  into  its  normal  position.  Pressure  in  the 
case  of  a  big  crease  is  best  applied  by  ironing,  the 
stamp  being  protected  between  glazed  cards.  Where 
the  gum  is  untidy  on  the  back  of  an  unused  stamp 


ON  FORMING  A  COLLECTION        139 

it  will  sometimes  be  useful  to  lay  it,  after  cleaning, 
upon  the  surface  of  smooth  glass  or  the  glazing- 
sheets  used  for  glossy  prints  by  photographers,  which 
will  preserve  what  remains  of  the  original  gum,  and 
impart  a  gloss  which  compensates  for  a  partial  loss 
of  gum. 

To  preserve  the  tidy  appearance  of  a  collection  in 
a  printed  album  one  must  sacrifice  those  portions  of 
the  margins  adjoining  stamps  from  the  outer  edges 
of  the  printed  sheets.  In  most  cases  it  serves  no 
purpose  to  retain  them,  and  they  interfere  with  the 
symmetry  of  the  pages.  The  collector,  too,  must  use 
his  judgment  as  to  the  desirability  of  trimming  away 
unnecessary  ragged  protrusions  of  the  perforation. 

For  all  cleaning  purposes  benzine  is  an  excellent 
medium,  as  its  rapid  evaporation  is  a  convenience, 
and  it  does  not  injure  the  stamp.  Most  used  stamps 
may  be  soaked  in  benzine  and  be  much  improved 
by  the  bath  ;  but  where  the  colours  of  the  stamp  are 
such  that  immersion  in  liquid  is  unsafe,  treatment 
may  be  applied  to  the  edges  or  to  the  back  as 
required  by  means  of  the  camel's-hair  brush. 

The  whole  purpose  of  this  care  with  individual 
stamps  is  to  preserve  the  specimens  and  to  impart 
a  composite  beauty  of  condition  to  the  whole,  without 
which  no  collection  can  be  pleasing  to  its  owner  or  to 
any  one  else.  Every  unused  stamp  should  be  spotless 
so  far  as  extraneous  blemishes  are  concerned;  the 
colour  should  be  fresh  as  when  it  came  from  the 
printers'  workshops;  the  perforations  of  each  stamp 
should  be  complete,  and  should  have  been  neatly 
severed,  and  the  gum  on  the  back,  unless  it  is  so 


140       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

thick  and  crackly  that  it  is  a  danger  to  the  stamps, 
should  be  preserved  intact. 

A  used  stamp  should  be  selected  for  its  lightness 
of  postmark,  though  there  are  often  times  when  a 
more  heavily  postmarked  copy  showing  the  date  of 
use  will  be  valuable  evidence  in  the  pursuit  of  his- 
torical researches.  The  colour  of  the  used  stamp 
should  not  be  less  good  than  that  of  an  unused  one, 
and  the  perforations  should  be  all  there. 

In  the  case  of  imperforate  stamps  it  is  desirable 
always  to  have  as  large  margins  round  the  printed 
impression  as  possible ;  while  in  all  perforated  stamps 
one  should  endeavour  to  secure  well-centred  copies — 
that  is  to  say,  copies  in  which  the  printed  impression 
falls  evenly  between  the  perforations  on  all  four  sides. 

These  are  the  chief  desiderata  for  the  general 
collector.  They  read  rather  portentously;  but  the 
cult  of  condition  comes  by  practice  to  all  who  have 
the  true  love  of  stamps,  for  if  stamps  are  worth 
collecting  at  all  they  are  worthy  of  our  best  en- 
deavours to  keep  them  in  the  pink  of  condition. 
"  It  is  part  of  the  decency  of  scholars,"  says  Richard 
de  Bury,  "  that  whenever  they  return  from  meals  to 
their  study,  washing  should  invariably  precede  read- 
ing, and  that  no  grease-stained  finger  should  unfasten 
the  clasps  or  turn  the  leaves  of  a  book  " ;  it  should 
be  no  less  a  part  oC-the  decency  of  the  philatelist, 
and  in  the  case  of  his  treasures  the  true  lover  of 
stamps  will  not  neglect  the  merest  trifles  which  will 
perpetuate  the  perfect  preservation  of  his  specimens. 

The  use  of  the  stamp-hinge  or  mount  is  simple, 
and,  with  proper  care,  perfectly  effective.     It  is  a 


ON  FORMING  A  COLLECTION       141 

small  strip  of  paper  gummed  on  the  one  side  for 
folding  in  the  form  of  a  hinge,  the  gummed  surface 
being  on  the  outside  of  the  hinge  when  folded.  One 
arm  of  the  hinge  is  lightly  affixed  to  the  top  back,  or 
right  side  of  the  back  of  the  stamp,  the  other  portion 
being  fixed  to  the  album.  The  slightest  touch  of 
moisture  is  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  The  best 
hinges  are  stamped  with  a  die  out  of  a  kind  of 
onion-skin  paper,  are  semi-transparent,  and  evenly 
coated  on  the  one  side  with  a  colourless  mucilage. 
In  folding  for  use,  the  hinge  should  be  formed  of  a 
long  arm  for  the  album — say,  two-thirds  of  the  hinge 
— and  a  short  one — one-third — for  the  stamp.  The 
short  arm  should  be  applied  quite  close  to  the  top 
or  side  (top  mounting  is  the  more  general),  so  that 
in  turning  up  a  stamp  for  examination  there  is  no 
creasing  of  the  upper  part  of  the  stamp.  The  pro- 
cess should  be  manipulated  with  the  tweezers,  so 
that  the  stamp  is  never  fingered,  and  in  smoothing 
down  the  page  of  mounted  stamps  a  clean  blotter 
should  be  used. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  repeatedly  mounting  a 
stamp,  even  if  carefully  done  by  a  practised  hand, 
has  a  cumulative  detrimental  effect  on  the  specimens. 
The  temptation  to  use  the  convenient  digit  is  present 
on  every  occasion,  and  even  the  cleanest  finger  must 
make  some — perhaps  infinitesimal — mark  on  the 
face ;  multiply  this  by,  say,  seven  times,  and  the 
stamp,  from  being  "  mint,"  becomes  merely  "  un- 
used," and  so  on  until  after  the  proverbial  seventy 
times  seven  the  stamp  would  come  within  the  cate- 
gory of  "soiled."    So,    too,    with    each    successive 

8 


142       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

remounting,  unless  the  first  mount  be  preserved 
intact  (as  is  possible  with  good  "  peelable  "  mounts 
handled  with  care),  through  a  succession  of  removals 
of  the  stamp  there  is  a  loss  of  the  gum  which  is  part 
of  the  stamp,  and  in  the  various  stages  this  becomes 
a  skinned,  or  "  thinned,"  copy. 

A  stamp  is  a  tender,  delicate  thing — especially  if 
"chalky" — and  should  be  handled  as  little  as  pos- 
sible, whether  common,  scarce,  or  rare  ;  in  fact,  the 
old  Latin  proverb,  Maxima  debetur  pueris  reverentia, 
might  well  be  parodied,  if  one  knew  the  Latin  for 
stamps.  Care,  coolness  (physical),  and  cleanliness 
are  necessary  attributes  of  the  ideal  collector,  and 
even  he  would  do  well  to  use  tweezers  instead  of 
fingers ;  but  if  he  must  use  a  finger,  let  him  interpose 
a  piece  of  tissue  or  blotting  paper  between  it  and  the 
stamp. 

The  best  peelable  mounts  are  good  ;  but  the  ideal 
mount  which,  once  affixed  to  the  back  of  the  stamp, 
need  never  be  removed  therefrom  has  yet  to  be 
manufactured.  I  will  hand  on  a  suggestion  for  the 
ideal  mount,  a  little  troublesome  to  adopt  in  the  first 
instance,  but  which  well  repays  a  little  extra  initial 
trouble  in  the  preservation  of  the  stamps,  and  which 
even  saves  trouble  in  the  event  of  "  removals." 

Imagine  a  mount,  of  standard  size,  and  of  very 
thin  tough  paper,  manufactured  from  linen  rags  to 
give  it  a  long  fibre,  to  be  sold  ready  folded,  but 
gummed  only  on  the  upper  part  above  the  fold  ; 
this  is  fixed  in  the  usual  way  to  the  stamp. 

Accompanying  each  mount  are  several  narrow 
(say,  \   in.)    slips    of    similar    paper,    gummed    at 


ON  FORMING  A  COLLECTION       143 

the  extreme  ends,  and  as  long  as  the  mount  is 
wide. 

Cut  into  the  mount  are  two  vertical  slits — thin 
pieces  punched  out,  not  mere  cuts — immediately 
below  the  fold,  one  about  -^  in.  from  each  edge  of 
the  mount.  Insert  one  of  the  narrow  slips,  so  that 
the  two  gummed  ends  are  at  the  back  of,  but  away 
from,  the  mount ;  slightly  moisten  each  of  these 
gummed  tips — instead  of,  as  usual,  the  back  of  the 
mount — and  fasten  the  stamp  on  the  page  of  the 
album  as  if  the  hinge  were  of  the  ordinary  make ; 
the  stamp  will  be  fixed  just  as  firmly  as  if  the 
mount  were  fastened  to  the  page  by  a  square  inch 
of  gummed  back. 

When  it  is  desired  to  move  the  stamp,  a  snip  with 
a  pair  of  small  scissors  will  sever  the  narrow  slip 
where  it  crossed  the  upper  side  of  the  mount,  which 
will  then  pull  off  from  the  two  pieces.  To  remount 
use  a  fresh  narrow  slip. 

It  sounds  tedious,  and  the  original  mounting  may 
take  longer  than  usual,  but  a  removal  takes  con- 
siderably less  time  than  the  ordinary  remounting  if 
the  hinge  has  stuck  firmly,  and  there  is  in  any  case 
absolutely  no  wear  and  tear  of  the  stamp,  risk  of 
"  skinning,"  "  cockling  "  from  moisture,  or  possible 
loss  of  gum.  In  fact,  a  permanent  mount,  secured 
by  a  movable  slip,  which  can  be  renewed. 

This  ideal  mount  answers  wonderfully  well,  and 
should  be  tried  by  all  who  care  for  their  stamps,  and 
the  slight  extra  cost  and  trouble  should  be  more  than 
repaid  by  the  preservation  of  the  stamp,  even  if  the 
commonest    "  continental "    ever    printed :    ii    may, 


144       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

though  it  is  no  reason  for  treating  it  properly,  some 
day  be  rare. 

In  mounting  on  blank  pages  some  kind  of  gauge  is 
necessary,  and  I  offer  this  one  as  a  very  serviceable 
assistance  to  the  specialist  mounting  stamps  on  either 
blank  or  quadrille  leaves  or  cards. 

The  gauge  should  be  in  the  form  of  a  letter  H, 
the  centre-bar  being  equal  in  length  to  the  width  of 
the  space  available  for  mounting  stamps,  and  the 
uprights  about  the  same  height  as  the  full  page. 

Suppose  the  available  stamp  space,  after  allowing 
for  leaf-margins  and  linen  hinge,  is  9J  in.  high  by 
7  in.  wide,  then  the  gauge  would  be  thus,  cut  out 
of  fairly  stout  white  cardboard  with  a  sharp  knife  : — 


,7m., 


The  long  sides  being  placed  and  kept  parallel  with 
the  sides  of  the  ornamental  border  on  the  leaf  are 
obviously   to    enable    the    centre  -  bar    to    be   kept 


ON  FORMING  A  COLLECTION       145 

perfectly  horizontal,  whether  at  the  top  or  bottom 
of  the  page. 

In  the  measurements  about  to  be  given  "  c  "  stands 
for  centre,  when  the  number  of  stamps  in  a  row  is 
odd  ;  and  the  figures  represent  inches,  to  be  measured 
from  the  centre  of  the  page  when  the  number  of 
stamps  is  even,  or  from  "  c ",  as  the  case  may  be. 

One  of  two  methods  can  be  adopted — mark  the 
lower  edge  of  the  centre-bar  in  thirty-seconds  of  an 
inch,  starting  from  the  centre  and  working  in  each 
direction  horizontally  ;  or  use  a  separate  gauge  for 
differently  sized  {viz.^  in  width)  stamps,  in  which  case 
mark  the  gauge  to  show  the  position  of  the  centre 
of  the  middle  stamp  (if  an  odd  number),  and  of  the 
inner  corner  of  any  other  stamps  to  be  placed  equi- 
distant from  the  centre.  The  former  is  the  prefer- 
able course ;  and  the  following  scale  will,  it  is  hoped, 
be  useful,  premising  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  give 
measurements  when  there  are  only  two  or  three 
stamps  in  a  row. 


Width  of 

No.  in 

stamp. 

row. 

Centre 

li" 

4 

ij 

\ 

. 

\ 

li 

ItV 

4 

iH 

\ 

. 

i 

HI 

If" 

4 

iH 

^ 

. 

h 

m 

IT^" 

4 

1* 

^ 

. 

^ 

li 

ir 

4 

iH 

^ 

. 

^ 

iH 

5 

2i 

1 

c 

i 

2h 

lA" 

4 

If 

A 

. 

^ 

If 

5 

2^V 

tl 

c 

II 

2^ 

ir 

4 

I* 

i 

, 

i 

li 

5 

m 

H 

c 

H 

iK 

ItV 

4 

III 

I 

. 

i 

Ifl 

5 

2^V 

#1 

c 

U 

2A 

I" 

4 

If 

i: 

. 

i 

If 

146       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Width  of    No.  in 
stamp.       row.  Centre. 

5  2  I       C  I      2 

5  Iff  M    c       fl  Iff  - 

r  4  I|  i        .  i      If 

5  iH  H    c      H  iH 


1«M 


7 

8 

t?         4 


0  '/ 


6  2/^    l/^  ,V  .  A    IH    2^ 

7  2t\    I^  ^  C  ^    I^    2A 

4  i^  i  ■  J    ItV 

5  Iff  fi  c  fl  iM 

6  27»T    I^V  A  •  /^    I^V    2^ 

7  2if    lif  ^  C  iJ    IM    2^1 

4                     li  i  .  i   i^ 

2t       If  f  C  f      If      2| 

2*1^1.  i      Ij      2j 

2i       li  4  C  i      If      2i 

2ii    IH      II  T^  •  ^      H    IH    2^ 

lA  i  •  J     itV 


6  2^    li  t'?  .  1^  li  2t^ 

7  2^4    IH  if  C  if  lil  2M 

8  2j  iH     ^  ^  .  tV  ^  iH   2j 

4  If  J  .  i  i| 

5  lii  H  c  H  lii 

6  2t^    It^  ^  .  T^  ItV  2tV 

7  2^    IT^^  A  C  t\  It^  2^^ 
2|  I|       I  i  .  i  I  I|       2| 
2ii  IM    lA  tV  C  t2^  Ij%  III    2H 

I^  i  .  i  IVV 


TT     4  *TS 


5  Iff  f^  c  H  Iff 

6  2tV  li  -a  .  tV  iJ   2tV 

7 
8 

9 

4  ^  ,  ,   , 

5  li  t  c  t  li 
lyf  lya  T5  •  T^  Itf  IT6 

7  2§   li  f  C  f  Ij   2§ 

8  2|   If    f  i  .  *   ^   If   2i 

9  2|   2    li  i  C  4  Ij   2    2| 

10  2||  2/t  Iff  ft  /^  .  sV   ff  Iff  2^^  2^1 


2tV  ii  ts  '  tV  iJ  2tV 

2^     Iff  fl  C  ^^  IH  2/7 

2^  li    If  *  .  i   If  If   2^ 

2M  Iff  IfV  ff  C  if  lA  I|i  2fl 

Ij  J  .  i   li 


ON  FORMING  A  COLLECTION       147 

With  a  gauge  and  scale  as  above  suggested,  it  is 
extremely  easy  to  quickly  mark  out  a  page  with 
pencilled  dots,  so  soon  as  it  is  decided  how  many 
stamps  are  to  go  in  each  row — experto  crede. 

Of  course,  allowance  must  be  made  if  the  stamps 
of  a  set  are  of  uneven  size,  but  there  is  no  difficulty 
if  a  little  patience  be  exercised. 

I  have  arranged  many  pages  of  stamps  by  the  aid 
of  a  home-made  scale  on  this  and  similar  plans,  and 
have  experienced  no  trouble  in  allowing  for  the 
occasional  inclusion  of  pairs  and  short  strips — a  little 
mental  calculation,  and  a  side  movement  of  the 
gauge  to  the  extent  of  the  width  of  one  stamp  will 
compensate  for,  say,  a  pair  instead  of  a  single ;  and 
so  on. 

The  specialist  can  rarely  have  the  advantage  of  a 
prepared  printed  album,  as  his  possessions  include 
pairs,  blocks,  marginal  pieces,  original  covers,  and 
evidential  items  of  a  variety  of  shapes.  He  works 
therefore  on  albums  that  have  blank  pages,  generally 
enclosed  within  a  form  of  semi-binding  which  allows 
the  interchanging  of  the  leaves.  Spring-back  covers 
are  now  much  used,  though  there  are  excellent  peg 
and  clutch  attachments  in  the  British-made  albums 
of  the  specialist  class.  The  leaves  are  either  quite 
plain  or  with  a  faint  quadrille  ground  which  is  an  aid 
to  symmetrical  arrangement. 

The  early  stamp  collectors  used  to  elaborate  their 
albums  with  gay  colourings ;  some,  following  the  early 
artistry  of  Mr.  Booty  in  the  preface  to  his  "  Aids  to 
Stamp  Collectors"  (1862),  mounted  their  stamps  on 
squares    of   coloured    paper,  and    emblazoned    the 


148       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

country's  arms  and  painted  its  flags  upon  the  pages 
of  their  albums.  The  stamps,  being  of  small  size, 
suffered  in  the  contrast  with  these  gaudy  trappings, 
and  in  the  latter-day  philately  such  contrivances  are 
left  to  the  nouveau  riche^  who  will  embellish  each  of 
his  pages  with  his  name,  titles,  address,  coat  of 
arms,  and  would  add  his  portrait  were  album-pages 
not  made  so  ridiculously  small  for  such  big  men. 
To-day  all  extravagant  flourishes  and  gay  trimmings 
are  a  vulgarity ;  simple  elegance  and  nice  judg- 
ment in  the  arrangement  make  for  beauty  in  our 
albums. 

At  the  same  time  we  must  recognise  for  the 
specialist  two  schools  of  collecting ;  one  is  concerned 
with  the  collecting  of  purely  philatelic  items,  the 
other  devotes  itself  to  the  formation  of  an  historical 
as  well  as  philatelic  collection.  The  former  does 
not  require  much  writing-up  on  the  pages.  The 
latter  advocates  a  good  deal  of  it,  and  it  is  this  form 
of  collecting — the  highest  exponent  of  which  is  the 
Earl  of  Crawford — that  allows  of  the  most  free  scope 
for  the  individuality  of  the  collector.  It  is  in  the 
collection  which  aims  at  a  complete  history  of  the 
stamps  of  a  country,  with  all  the  associated  circum- 
stances leading  up  to  their  issuance  and  connected 
with  their  use,  that  the  highest  summit  of  philatelic 
pleasure  and  culture  is  attained. 

In  writing-up,  there  are  several  details  about  a 
stamp,  some  patent  and  some  latent.  To  complete 
the  history  of  a  particular  stamp,  every  collector 
ought  to  know  and  to  inscribe  in  the  proper  place  in 
the  album  these  points,  so  far  as  the  information  can 


ON  FORMING  A  COLLECTION       149 

be  obtained  from  reliable  sources,  and  so  far  as  it 
may  be  applicable : — 

Date  of  issue. 

Artist. 

Engraver. 

Printers. 

Mode  of  production. 

Paper,  including  watermark. 

Perforation. 

Date  of  supers 


In  a  more  elaborate  form  the  writing-up  will 
develop  into  a  full  manuscript  history — not  too 
diffuse — of  the  postal  issues  of  a  country.  The  record 
of  each  stamp  or  issue  will  extend  over  several  pages, 
interspersed  with  the  collector's  specimens,  proofs, 
&c.,  appropriately  inserted  at  points  where  they  will 
be  explanatory  to  the  text  and  make  a  valuable, 
readable,  and  individualistic  volume.  To  indicate 
succinctly  the  range  of  the  more  comprehensive 
writing-up,  it  would  be  the  student's  endeavour  to 
show  and  explain  the  circumstances  leading  up  to 
the  necessity  for  the  stamp ;  its  creation  by  act, 
decree,  or  order;  advertisements  or  requests  for 
designs,  tenders  for  manufacture,  &c.,  with  results  ;  a 
note  as  to  some  of  the  principal  essays  ;  the  chosen 
design,  with  name  of  artist  and  source  of  his  inspira- 
tion ;  the  engraver ;  the  maker  of  the  plate  and  the 
process  of  printing  adopted  ;  the  number  of  stamps 
on  the  plate  and  their  arrangement  and  marginal 
inscriptions ;  the  varieties  (if  any)  on  the  plate ; 
how  such  varieties  arose  and  how  frequently  they 
occurred  ;  the  paper  used — mill-sheet,  printing- sheet 


/- 


150       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

and  post-office  sheet — and  its  watermarking  ;  the 
printers ;  the  colour,  gum,  and  perforation  of  the 
stamps ;  the  quantities  printed ;  the  notices  to  the 
Post  Office  and  the  public  of  the  impending  issue  ; 
the  date  of  issue;  the  duration  of  use;  the  with- 
drawal, supersession,  or  demonetisation  ;  the 
quantity  of  remainders  (if  any),  and  what  became 
of  them. 


THE 

SCOPE  OF 
A  MODERN 
COLLECTION 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  SCOPE  OF  A  MODERN   COLLECTION 

The  historical  collection  :  literary  and  philatelic — The  quest  for  rariora 
— The  **grangerising"  of  philatelic  monographs:  its  advantages 
and  possibilities — Historic  documents — Proposals  and  essays — 
Original  drawings — Sources  of  stamp  engravings — Proofs  and 
trials — Comparative  rarity  of  some  stamps  in  pairs,  &c.,  or  on 
original  envelopes — Coloured  postmarks — Portraits,  maps,  and 
contemporary  records — A  lost  opportunity. 

The  scope  of  the  modern  collector  extends  beyond 
the  collection  of  actually  issued  stamps.  He  uses 
the  stamps  as  a  starting-point,  but  in  the  historical 
collection  he  works — as  it  is  said  the  writers  of 
detective  stories  used  to  do — backwards.  He  traces 
to  its  earliest  inception  the  service  which  ultimately 
gave  us  the  postage  stamp.  The  collection  is 
literary  as  well  as  philatelic  :  stamps  are  preceded 
by  documents,  prints  and  postal  records  of  all  kinds. 
The  essays,  as  we  term  the  suggestions  for  stamp 
designs  submitted  by  artists,  inventors  or  printers 
to  a  Government  or  other  issuing  authority,  are  of 
a  high  degree  of  interest  and  should  be  included  in 
the  historical  collection,  which  will  also  show,  where 
possible,  the  engraver's  proofs  taken  in  the  course  of 

163 


154       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

his  work,  the  finished  die-proofs  in  black,  plate-proofs 
in  black  and  in  colours,  and  the  stamps,  generally  of 
the  first  printing,  which  are  overprinted  with  the 
word  "  Specimen,"  or  its  equivalent  in  other  lan- 
guages, and  are  sent  out  to  show  postal  ofificers  what 
the  newly-authorised  stamps  are  like. 

It  is  in  this  broad  field  that  the  collector  in  these 
days  gets  the  most  enjoyment ;  here  he  may  heighten 
the  pleasures  of  the  hunt  for  philatelic  and  associated 
rariora.  So  many  wonderful  tales  have  been  told  of 
the  fabulous  fortunes  acquired  in  the  finding  of  a 
few  old  letters  bearing  stamps,  that  many  a  deal  is 
frustrated  by  the  uninitiated  owner  having  too 
fanciful  an  idea  of  the  value  of  his  goods.  It  is  rare 
in  these  days  for  such  an  incident  to  happen  as  I 
witnessed  about  twelve  years  ago.  A  gentleman,  who 
had  been  turning  out  some  old  papers,  came  across  an 
unsevered  block  of  eight  five-shilling  British  stamps 
which  had  been  sent  to  his  father,  presumably  as  a 
remittance,  somewhere  in  the  early  'eighties.  Here 
was  £2  lying  idle  for  years,  but  having  luckily 
noticed  them  in  clearing  out  these  old  papers,  the 
gentleman  thought  he  would  see  if  they  were  still 
exchangeable  at  a  post-ofBce.  At  the  first  post- 
office  he  visited,  he  was  told  that  the  stamps  were  of 
an  old  issue,  and  that  to  get  them  converted  into 
cash  he  would  have  to  take  them  to  Somerset  House. 
On  his  way  thither  he  noticed  a  stamp-dealer's  show 
case,  and  apparently  the  possible  interest  of  his 
specimens  in  the  stamp-market  then  first  occurred  to 
him.  He  called  in,  and  simply  asked  if  the  dealer 
would  give  him  the  £2^  to  save  him  the  trouble  of 


SCOPE  OF  A  MODERN  COLLECTION    155 

going  on  to  Somerset  House.  The  dealer,  who  had 
probably  never  seen  an  unsevered  block  of  eight  of 
the  five-shillings  "anchor"  of  1882,  obliged  him 
readily,  which  he  could  well  afford  to  do,  as  he 
passed  on  the  stamps  the  same  week  to  a  collector 
for  £7^, 

These  things  do  happen,  but  in  the  "  legitimate  " 
stamp-collecting  they  are  necessarily  of  rarer  occur- 
rence in  these  days  of  popular  newspapers,  over- 
educating  in  certain  directions,  or  at  least  pander- 
ing to  the  common  desire  for  a  royal  road  to  easy 
wealth.  Many  dealers  have  told  me  that  it  is  their 
experience  that,  if  they  make  a  fair  offer  for  valuable 
stamps  submitted  to  them  by  the  uninitiated,  they 
never  succeed  in  effecting  a  purchase  at  all  in  these 
days.  The  hawker  of  "finds"  visits  the  stamp- 
shops  to  get  an  idea  of  the  value  of  his  wares,  and 
plays  off  one  dealer  against  another,  with  the  result 
that  it  is  necessary  for  the  seller  nowadays  to  state 
his  price  in  the  first  instance. 

The  modern  collection  is  specialised,  that  is  to 
say,  it  deals  with  the  postal  history  of  a  country  or 
group  of  countries,  instead  of  being  a  mere  accumu- 
lation of  specimens  of  the  postage-stamps  of  the 
world.  The  advanced  collector's  albums  of  to-day 
are  like  the  "association  books"  of  the  autograph 
collector,  and  indeed  there  have  been  many  successes 
in  "  grangerising "  the  more  important  specialist 
monographs  on  stamps.  One  of  the  most  interesting 
of  these  latter  was  the  late  Mr.  Thomas  Peacock's 
copy  of  "  The  Postage  and  Telegraph  Stamps  of 
Great  Britain,"  written  by  the  late  Mr.  (afterwards 


156       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Judge)  Philbrick  and  the  late  Mr.  W.  A.  S.  Westoby, 
and  published  by  the  Philatelic  Society,  London,  in 
1 88 1.  This  book  was  sold  by  auction  after  Mr. 
Peacock's  death,  and  realised  only  ;^I9,  its  treasures 
not  having  been  generally  noticed  before  the  sale ; 
and  it  had  been  denuded  of  some  of  its  wealth  before 
I  saw  it,  an  act  for  which  it  is  not  easy  to  forgive 
the  man  of  commerce.  Peacock,  as  Inspector  of 
Stamping  at  Somerset  House  (1853-93),  had  had 
intimate  associations  with  the  Hill  family  (of 
whom  several  members  got  comfortable  positions 
in  the  Government  service),  and  his  connection  with 
the  mechanical  side  of  the  production  of  stamps 
enabled  him  to  enrich  his  "  Philbrick  and  Westoby  " 
with  copious  notes,  photographs,  proofs,  and  stamps. 
Major  Evans  published  most  of  the  notes  in  Gibbons 
Stamp  Weekly^  and  I  had  the  privilege  of  adding  the 
notes  and  some  photographs  from  the  original  to 
my  own  copy  of  this  book. 

The  collector  "grangerising"  a  book  on  the  British 
stamps  to-day  would,  of  course,  work  on  the  later 
authority,  "  The  Adhesive  Stamps  of  the  British 
Isles,"  by  the  late  Mr.  Hastings  E.  Wright,  and 
Mr.  A.  B.  Creeke,  jun.,  or  on  the  sectional  works  of 
mine,  of  which  Mr.  W.  H.  Peckitt  has  issued  large 
paper  sets  with  special  bindings  for  that  purpose. 

Generally,  however,  it  is  the  stamp  collection 
itself  that  is  enriched  by  a  variety  of  evidential 
matter  and  extensive  notes  by  the  owner.  I  have 
traced  with  fair  success  in  my  Great  Britain  collec- 
tion the  early  history  of  the  Post  Office  in  this 
country,  and  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure 


THE   SMALL   "  EXPP:RIMEXTAL"    PLATE   FROM   WHICH    IMPRESSIONS   OF  THE   TWO 
PENCE,   GREAT   BRITAIN,   WERE   MADE   ON   "  DICKINSON  "   PAPER. 

Only  two  rows  of  four  stamps  were  impressed  on  each  piece  of  the  paper. 
(C/.  next  plate.) 


167 


SCOPE  OF  A  MODERN  COLLECTION     159 

several  of  those  rarce  aves  among  historic  documents, 
the  proclamations  relating  to  the  post.  Lord 
Crawford  has  the  finest  set  of  these  in  any  private 
collection,  and  he  has  given  a  list  of  them  in  the 
catalogue  of  the  philatelic  section  of  the  Bibliotheca 
Lindesiana^  with  details  of  the  location  of  all  known 
copies.  Acts  of  Parliament  are  not  always  con- 
venient for  inclusion  with  the  stamp  collection,  but 
those  relating  to  the  issuance  of  stamps  should  be 
included  where  possible.  The  original  of  the  "  pre- 
tended Act "  of  the  Commonwealth,  to  which  I  have 
already  alluded,  was  a  bookstall-bargain,  costing 
a  few  shillings.  The  Uniform  Penny  Postage  Acts 
of  1839  and  1840  should  be  included  in  the  "  associa- 
tion collection  "  of  the  stamps  of  Great  Britain.  My 
copy  of  the  former  is  an  original,  but  the  1840  one 
is  a  reprint.  The  years  1837-39  are  of  great 
importance  in  the  history  of  postage-stamps ;  this 
was  the  first  period  of  the  essays  and  proposals  for 
the  system,  to  the  advocacy  q%  which  Rowland  Hill 
devoted  himself  with  such  tenacity  of  purpose.  The 
published  proposals,  samples  of  the  printed  envelopes 
and  covers  of  which  were  included  in  the  "  Ninth 
Report  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  to  Inquire 
into  the  Management  of  the  Post  Office  "  (1837),  and 
in  Mr.  Ashurst's  "  Facts  and  Reasons  in  support  of 
Mr.  Rowland  Hill's  Plan,"  are  accessible  to  the 
specialist,  and  are  the  natural  priores  of  the  Mulready 
envelopes  and  covers.  Not  so  accessible  are  the 
proposals  of  Forrester,  Cheverton,  Dickinson,  and  the 
minor  lights  who  sought  to  provide  the  Treasury 
with  the   key  to   success    in   the   adoption   of  pre- 

9 


160       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

payment.  My  "  Forrester  "  is  a  perfect  copy  which 
came  from  the  sale  of  the  Philbrick  library,  where  it 
had  been  overlooked  and  classed  among  some  more 
ponderous  but  less  treasured  productions.  The 
Cheverton  papers  and  the  metal  dies  intended  for 
striking  the  impressions  of  his  proposed  labels 
remain  in  the  possession  of  the  inventor's  relative, 
Miss  Eliza  Cooper,  though  casts  have  been  made  of 
the  die  for  the  collections  of  his  Majesty  the  King, 
Lord  Crawford,  the  British  Museum,  and  the  Royal 
Society.  Mr.  Lewis  Evans,  the  grandson  of  the  late 
Mr.  John  Dickinson,  the  great  paper  manufacturer — 
a  contemporary  of  Fourdrinier  and  no  mean  rival 
of  that  genius — has  a  family  treasure-store  in  the 
Dickinson  correspondence  with  Rowland,  Ormond, 
and  Edwin  Hill,  and  Mr.  Spring  Rice,  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer ;  and  particularly  in  a  fine  series  of  the 
patterns  drawn  up  by  Ormond  Hill  for  the  envelopes 
printed  on  Dickinson  "  thread  "  paper.  Samples  of 
the  actual  thread-papers  (unprinted)  as  used  for  the 
Mulready  and  the  later  embossed  envelopes  and  for 
the  first  Ten  Pence  and  One  Shilling  embossed 
stamps  are  surprisingly  rare — indeed,  the  authors  of 
"  Wright  and  Creeke "  had  only  seen  three-quarters 
of  a  mill-sheet  at  the  time  of  writing  their  book. 
Mr.  Lewis  Evans  has  a  number  of  the  original 
samples,  and  has  been  good  enough  to  allow  me  to 
prepare  a  complete  transcript  of  the  Dickinson  papers, 
so  far  as  they  relate  to  postal  matters,  and  I  have 
included  facsimt/es  of  Ormond  Hill's  pattern  instruc- 
tions for  the  paper  for  the  Ten  Pence  and  Shilling 
adhesives  in  "  Great   Britain :   Embossed    Adhesive 


THE   TWO   PEXCE,   GREAT   BRITAIN,   OX   "  DICKINSON  "    PAPER. 

The  upper  block  is  in  red  (24  stamps  printed  in  all,  of  which 
nine  copies  are  known)  and  the  lower  block  in  blue 
(16  stamps  printed,  of  which  twelve  copies  are  known). 
The  above  blocks  of  six  each  are  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  Lewis  Evans  ;  the  pairs  cut  from  the  left  side  of 
each  block  were  in  the  collection  of  the  late  Mrs. 
John  Evans. 


161 


SCOPE  OF  A  MODERN  COLLECTION    163 

Stamps."  These  are  items  which  form  part  of  the 
life-history  of  the  stamps  or  impressed  stationery  to 
which  they  relate,  and  are  properly  included  with  the 
stamp  collection.  But, 'except  in  the  facsimile  state, 
it  will  be  obvious  that  but  few  can  enrich  their 
collections  with  items  of  so  unique  a  character  as 
Ormond  Hill's  carefully  measured  and  ruled  patterns 
and  the  autograph  letters  with  instructions  from 
Rowland  Hill.  But  it  is  open  to  each  specialist  to 
introduce  much  individuality  into  a  collection  of 
Great  Britain,  or  some  other  country,  on  these  and 
similar  lines. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  "  find  "  of  a 
quantity  of  the  suggestions  submitted  to  the  Treasury 
in  1839  as  a  result  of  the  offer  of  prize-money. 
These,  too,  are  within  the  scope  of  the  stamp  collec- 
tion carried  out  on  the  thorough  historical  basis,  but 
then  nearly  every  item  being  unique  designs  in  pen 
and  ink,  in  crayon  and  watercolour,  and  with  manu- 
script matter,  they  are  not  to  enrich  more  than  one 
collection  at  a  time.  Yet  there  may  be  others  of  a 
different  kind,  each  in  itself  unique,  to  be  had  at 
some  future  timely  frustration  of  a  holocaust  of  waste- 
paper. 

The  City  Medal  of  William  Wyon  is  closely 
associated  with  the  history  of  our  stamps,  and  used 
to  be  represented  in  my  collection  by  a  silver  cliche^ 
though  it  has  now  been  replaced  by  the  medal  in 
silver.  The  medal  is  accessible  to  the  collector  in 
bronze,  silver,  or  gold,  but  for  most  philatelic  purposes 
a  clichi  showing  only  the  obverse  with  the  Queen's 
head  is  more  convenient  for  mounting  in  the  album, 


'<r* 


AUTOGRAPH  LETTER  FROM  ROWLAND  HILL  TO  JOHN  DICKINSON, 
THE  PAPER-MAKER,  ASKING  FOR  SIX  OR  EIGHT  SHEETS  OF 
THE  SILK-THREAD  PAPER  FOR  TRIAL  IMPRESSIONS  OF  THE 
ADHESIVE  STAMPS. 


164 


y-^/ 


CfVlK^ 


r  -J. 


o 
« 

w 


165 


SCOPE  OF  A  MODERN  COLLECTION    167 

in  a  heavily  sunk  card,  and  protected  with  "glass" 
paper. 

Original  drawings  are  in  nearly  every  case  unique 
in  themselves.  Curiously  enough,  Mulready  is  sup- 
posed to  have  made  two,  possibly  three,  original 
sketches  for  his  envelope,  though  even  here  each 
must  be  regarded  as  dissimilar  from  the  others.  One 
is  a  pencil  design  in  outline,  and  is  in  the  possession 
of  His  Majesty  the  King ;  the  sketch  was  sold  with 
other  drawings  and  sketches  by  Christie,  Manson  & 
Woods  on  April  28,  1864,  when  it  was  stated  by  the 
auctioneer  that  this  was  the  only  sketch  of  the  design 
made  by  the  artist.  It  is  practically  the  whole  of  the 
design  as  printed,  and  shares  the  peculiarity  of  the 
issued  envelopes  and  covers  that  one  of  the  flying 
angels  is  drawn  without  a  second  leg.  Another 
sketch,  according  to  Sir  Henry  Cole,^  had  this 
omission  corrected  before  it  was  presented  to  Mr. 
Thomas  Baring,  M.P.  If  Sir  Henry  Cole  were  not 
mistaken,  I  must  consider  the  sketch  in  the  possession 
of  Miss  Jafifray  to  be  yet  a  third  "  original,"  as  it  is 
lacking  the  winged  four  figures  entirely. 

Another  pair  of  sketches  of  unequalled  importance 
is  in  the  possession  of  His  Majesty.  These  are  the 
two  rough  sketches  in  water-colours  of  the  designs  of 
the  first  (1840)  One  Penny  and  Two  Pence  stamps, 
submitted  by  Mr.  Rowland  Hill  for  approval  of  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer :  across  the  head  of  the 
one  in  black  Rowland  Hill  has  written  "  id."  in 
pencil,  and  similarly  "  2d."  across  the  one  in  blue. 

Original  drawings  of  issued  stamps  very  rarely 
»  "  Fifty  Years  of  Public  Life,"  p.  63. 


168       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

leave  the  Government  or  printer's  establishments,  but 
in  a  few  cases  they  have  come  on  the  market.  A 
few  years  ago,  in  a  large  collection  of  colour-proofs  of 
stamps  printed  by  De  La  Rue,  I  saw  the  original 
drawing  for  the  1881  stamps  of  Cyprus,  a  unique 
item  which  went  to  embellish  the  specialised  collec- 
tion of  the  stamps  of  that  colony  formed  by 
Mr.  J.  C.  North,  of  Huddersfield.  Shortly  afterwards 
I  myself  secured  two  original  colour  drawings  for  the 
1897  issue  of  British  Central  Africa.^  I  found  them 
in  the  Strand,  where,  strange  to  say,  many  of  these 
out-of-the-way  items  are  often  moderately  priced, 
quite  out  of  proportion  to  their  interest  and  relative 
scarcity,  for  it  is  only  in  comparatively  recent  times 
that  specialism  has  admitted  these  historic  side- 
issues  into  the  stamp  album.  Mr.  Charles  J.  Phillips, 
one  of  those  rare  combinations  of  student  and  dealer, 
has  permitted  me  to  reproduce  an  original  sketch  of 
the  canoe  type  of  Fiji,  from  the  fine  collection  of  this 
colony  formed  by  him.^  The  drawing  was  by  Mr. 
Leslie  J.  Walker,  Postmaster  of  Suva,  and  represents 
"  a  young  colony  (the  canoe  forging  ahead  towards  the 
rising  sun  shows  the  progress  of  the  colony) ;  the  crown 
is  retained,  indicating  that  it  is  a  colony  of  England." 
Other  sources  of  stamp-engravings  are  of  interest, 
and  some  are  not  difficult  of  access.  A  familiar  one 
is  the  source  of  the  picture  on  the  "Omaha"  $1 
stamp  which  the  United  States  Post  Office  literally 
"  cribbed  "  from  the  etching  published  by  Dunthorne, 

*  Illustrated  in  **  British  Central  Africa  and  Nyasaland  Protectorate," 
by  Fred  J.  Melville,  1909. 

»  See  further  in  "The  Postage  Stamps  of  the  Fiji  Islands,"  by 
Charles  J.  Phillips,  1908. 


SCOPE  OF  A  MODERN  COLLECTION    169 

of  Vigo  Street,  of  the  late  Mr.  MacWhirter's  painting 
"  The  Vanguard."  The  American  Post  Office  altered 
the  title  to  "Western  Cattle  in  Storm,"  but  the 
picture  is  unmistakably  the  same.  My  statement  of 
MacWhirter's  authorship  of  the  picture  having  been 
challenged  by  an  artist,  who  was  probably  misled  by 
the  Scottish  painter's  devotion  to  landscape,  led  me 


ORIGINAL  SKETCH   FOR   THE    "  CANOE ' 
OF   FIJI  STAMPS. 


TYPE 


to  submit  the  stamp  to  Mr.  MacWhirter,  whose  reply 
admits  of  no  doubt. 

*^  August  26  [1906]. 
"  Dear  Sir, — Certainly  the  picture  was  painted  by  me.  It  was 
exhibited  in  the  R.A.  about  15  or  18  years  since.  It  was  named  by 
me  *The  Vanguard.'  The  picture  belongs  now,  I  believe,  to  Lord 
Blythswood,  near  Glasgow.  It  is  published  as  an  etching  by 
Dunthome,  Vigo  Street. 

"  Truly, 

'•J.  MacWhirter. 
"F.J.  Melville,  Esq." 


170       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

A  more  scarce  engraving,  which  was  the  basis  of 
some  of  the  most  classic  designs  in  the  history  of 
postage-stamps,  is  the  mezzotint  by  Samuel  Cousins, 
A.R.A.,  of  the  portrait  of  Queen  Victoria  painted  by 
Alfred  Edward  Chalon,  R.A.,  in  1837.  The  original 
picture  was  a  present  from  the  Queen  to  her  mother, 
the  Duchess  of  Kent,  as  a  souvenir  of  Her  Majesty's 
visit  to  the  House  of  Lords  to  prorogue  Parliament 
on  July  17,  1837.  According  to  The  Athenceum^  the 
original  picture  "  may  take  its  place  as  the  portrait, 
whether  in  right  of  the  likeness,  which  is  faithful  and 
characteristic,  or  in  right  of  its  artistic  treatment." 
From  the  mezzotint  Edward  Henry  Corbould,  the 
son  of  the  artist  of  the  "  Penny  Black "  of  Great 
Britain,  made  a  drawing  in  water  colours,  from  which 
the  engraver  William  Humphrys  produced  the  fine 
miniature  for  the  first  stamps  of  New  Zealand. 

In  a  number  of  cases  photographs  have  provided 
the  subject  for  stamp  vignettes,  and  here  the  collector 
is  able,  if  he  takes  a  little  trouble,  to  procure  copies 
for  extra-illustrating  his  collection.  The  photograph 
of  the  Llandovery  Falls  in  Jamaica,  used  on  the 
picture  stamp  of  that  colony  in  1900,  was  an  un- 
authorised copy  of  one  of  a  published  series  of  local 
views ;  that  of  the  Victoria  Falls  on  the  1905  stamps 
of  the  British  South  Africa  Company  recently  formed 
a  frontispiece  to  The  Stamp  Lover  (October,  19 10). 
The  subject  of  the  quaint  vignette  on  the  British 
New  Guinea  and  Papua  stamps  was  engraved 
from  a  photograph  taken  by  a  naval  officer,  and 
I  traced  a  copy  to  the  collection  of  a  returned 
jnissionary. 


SCOPE  OF  A  MODERN  COLLECTION    171 

Bank-note  and  other  engravings  of  a  like  character 
have  provided  copies  for  stamp  pictures,  and  Lord 
Crawford  has  formed  a  truly  magnificent  historical 
collection  of  the  United  States  stamps,  in  which  his 
lordship,  in  the  course  of  about  forty  volumes,  traces 
each  design  to  its  inception,  in  some  cases  to  the 
first  rough  pencil  sketch.  He  endeavours  to  show 
every  stage  in  the  development  of  the  stamp,  and, 
as  every  philatelist  should  do,  he  follows  the  stamp 
through  its  period  of  currency,  showing  the  different 
kinds  of  obliterations,  the  varying  shades  of  succes- 
sive printings,  and  where  they  exist  re-issues,  re- 
printings,  and  forgeries.  His  lordship's  collections 
of  Great  Britain  and  of  the  Italian  States  are  equally 
comprehensive,  but  that  this  manner  of  collecting 
is  not  entirely  exclusive  is  evidenced  by  the  number 
of  collectors  who  have  formed  really  worthy  indi- 
vidual "association  albums" — to  borrow  an  expressive 
term — of  the  stamps  of  these  same  countries. 

Proofs  are  comparatively  easy  of  access,  which, 
considering  their  relative  scarcity,  is  surprising.  The 
reason  that  they  were  neglected  in  the  middle  period 
of  stamp-collecting  was  probably  that  the  creation 
of  a  market  for  such  items  had  led  in  some  instances 
to  an  illegitimate  supply  by  the  employes  of  printing 
firms  entrusted  with  the  storage  of  Government  dies. 
The  misuse  of  stamp  dies  is  rare  now,  most  self- 
respecting  Governments  taking  ample  precautions 
not  to  admit  of  any  improper  use  of  their  property. 
The  opportunities  for  finds  in  the  way  of  rare  proofs 
are  still  plentiful.  Stamp-collecting,  though  firmly 
established,  is  still  young,  and  it  is  littlq  over  seventy 


172        CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

years  since  the  first  adhesive  postage-stamp  was 
issued.  A  number  of  near  descendants  of  the 
originators  of  the  first  postage-stamp  are  alive,  and 
no  doubt  there  are  still  treasures  in  the  way  of  proofs 
among  the  little-valued  waste  of  later  stamp-engravers 
and  designers.  Shortly  after  the  death  of  the  en- 
graver Herbert  Bourne  (i 825-1907),  I  acquired 
practically  the  whole  of  his  reliques  in  the  way  of 
proofs  of  stamp  dies ;  but  during  his  long  life  the 
engraver  had  done  so  many  engravings  that  a  little 
while  prior  to  his  death  he  had  been  burning  the 
proofs  he  had  saved  to  clear  them  out  of  the  way. 
His  son  fortunately  saved  the  thirty  to  forty  items 
now  in  my  collection,  of  which  one  of  the  most 
curious,  if  least  in  dimensions,  is  the  extremely  small 
head  of  King  Carlos  for  the  small  opening  in  the 
frame  of  the  picture  stamps  of  Portuguese  Nyassa. 
He  appears  to  have  done  the  die  for  the  1876  (June) 
issue  of  Spain,  which  stamps,  printed  in  taille  douce 
by  Messrs.  Bradbury,  Wilkinson  &  Co.,  are  a  flat 
contradiction  of  the  statements  of  both  the  Somerset 
House  authorities  and  the  Crown  Agents  for  the 
Colonies.  Each  of  these  departments  has  averred 
that  the  recess-plate  printing  offers  more  scope  to 
the  forger  than  our  paltry  surface-printing,  yet  Spain, 
prior  to  1876,  had  to  change  her  stamp  issues  practi- 
cally every  year  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  forgeries 
making  heavy  inroads  on  the  Government  revenues. 
Yet  the  forgeries  were  of  surface-printed  issues,  and 
this  first  Spanish  issue  in  taille-douce  engraving, 
printed  in  London  from  the  die  of  a  London  en- 
graver, was  never  forged  to  defraud  the  Government, 


engraver's  proof  of  the  queen's  head  die  for  the  first 
adhesive  postage  stamps,  with  note  in  the  hand- 
writing of  edward  henry  corbould  attributing  the 
engraving  to  frederick  heath. 


173 


SCOPE  OF  A  MODERN  COLLECTION    175 

neither  have  the  stamps  been  successfully  imitated 
to  deceive  the  collector. 

As  an  instance  of  how  little  Mr.  Bourne  had 
regarded  the  proofs  taken  of  his  work  at  various 
stages,  a  very  fine  proof  in  the  set  obtained  by  me 
was  the  Queensland  head  die  proved  upon  a  large 
sheet  of  thick  porous  paper,  the  whole  of  which  proof 
had  been  used  as  a  convenient  blotting-pad  ! 

Proofs  of  the  Mulready  are  not  very  difficult  to 
obtain,  even  on  India  paper.  There  was  in  the 
Peacock  papers  a  proof  on  India  paper  to  which 
Rowland  Hill  had  affixed  his  signature,  the  latter 
being  added  on  a  separate  piece  of  writing-paper 
pasted  over  the  India  paper,  which  does  not  take 
writing. 

There  must  be  many  engravers  of  stamp  dies  who 
have  accumulated  a  stock  of  proof  specimens  of  their 
work,  and  these  are  well  worth  looking  out  for.  A 
particularly  choice  item — said  to  be  one  of  three 
copies  originally  taken — is  the  engraver's  proof  of 
the  first  adhesive  postage,  head  only,  without  "  POST- 
AGE ",  and  undenominated.  Mrs.  Haywood,  a  grand- 
daughter of  Henry  Corbould  and  daughter  of 
Edward  Henry,  and  who  is  still  further  associated 
with  the  stamp  as  the  niece  of  Frederick  Heath,  the 
engraver,  has  one  of  the  three,  which  is  in  itself  a 
unique  item,  for  it  bears  in  the  handwriting  of  Edward 
Henry  Corbould  the  note  : 

'•  Engraver's    Proof  by   Fredk.   Heath  after    drawing    by  Henry 
Corbould,  F.S.A." 

To  this  undoubtedly  important  piece  of  evidence  I 


176       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE   STAMPS 

give  special  prominence,  as  it  should  establish  the 
association  of  Frederick  Heath,  rather  than  his  father 
Charles,  with  the  engraving  of  this  stamp.  To  Charles 
it  was  popularly  attributed  at  the  time  of  the  issue 
of  the  stamp,  as  the  father's  name  had  been  generally 
associated  with  much  of  the  work  done  under  his 
supervision,  but  not  necessarily  by  his  own  hand, 
by  his  many  pupils  and  assistants.^  Mrs.  Haywood 
tells  me  that  there  has  never  been  any  doubt  among 
the  older  members  of  the  family — the  Heaths  and 
Corboulds  having  intermarried — that  Frederick  was 
the  engraver  and  not  Charles,  and  Edward  Henry 
Corbould  was  himself  a  collaborator  with  Frederick 
Heath  on  the  coin-shaped  Five  Shillings  stamp  of 
New  South  Wales,  of  which  Mrs.  Haywood  treasures 
also  an  engraver's  proof. 

In  the  plate  stage  proofs  are  more  common  than 
die-proofs,  but  still  in  many  cases  they  are  scarce 
compared  with  the  stamps ;  yet,  by  a  strange  inver- 
sion of  scarcity  value,  one  can  obtain  a  magnificent 
proof  of  the  famous  "  twelve  pence  "  black  stamp  of 
Canada  for  fewer  shillings  than  the  stamp  itself  costs 
in  pounds.  The  old-fashioned  collector  used  to  say 
he  only  wanted  "stamps,"  and  turned  up  his  nose  at 
a  "  proof,"  but  the  modern  advanced  school  is  chang- 
ing all  that.  The  old  idea  is  the  more  ridiculous  when 
one  considers  that  the  Connell  essay  of  New  Brunswick 
(it  was  never  issued  for  postal  use),  if  perforated  and 
gummed,  though  still  not  an  issued  stamp,  fetches  £^0^ 

*  See  the  obituary  of  Charles  Heath  in  The  Art  Journal^  1849, 
p.  20,  and  the  argument  in  my  "  Great  Britain :  Line- engraved 
Stamps." 


!1! 


I'lthK  i-n'f,-f>tffj.  I 


m^§kM  w^kM  wUk 


m^%m<wm 


n^im^. 


Z  0 


■^ 


177 


SCOPE   OF  A  MODERN  COLLECTION    179 

while  an  imperforate  proof  costs  20s.  More  absurd 
still  is  it  where  philatelists,  in  the  desire  to  establish 
rariora^  are  inconsistent  enough  to  deem  an  un- 
doubted "  proof "  of  Cape  Colony,  the  celebrated 
id.  red-brown  triangular  stamp  on  paper  water- 
marked Crown  over  CC,  as  an  issued  stamp,  and 
to  pay  a  fabulous  sum  for  the  privilege  of  possess- 
ing it.  The  price — if  its  rarity  be  the  token  by 
which  price  may  be  gauged — was  cheap  enough; 
there  are  about  ten  copies  known  to  collectors,  all 
the  specimens  being  unused,  but  by  that  same 
token  we  know  that  it  was  never  used  in  the  post 
nor  issued  to  any  post-office. 

In  regard  to  the  actual  stamps,  there  is  much  in 
the  modern  advanced  collection  which  has  not  yet 
been  fully  appreciated  even  by  the  majority  of  col- 
lectors. Much  less  has  it  been  grasped  by  the 
uninitiated  vendor  of  "finds"  among  old  letters  and 
papers.  It  is  but  little  known  that  a  stamp  in  itself 
may  be  very  common,  but  in  a  pair  it  may  be  of  a 
high  degree  of  value.  This  is  putting  it  by  extremes; 
but  in  the  case  of  early  imperforate  stamps  it  is  a 
fact  that  many  of  the  first  issues  of  Great  Britain, 
her  colonies,  Holland,  Belgium,  German  States, 
Uruguay,  Chili,  and  other  countries,  the  stamps  are 
readily  accessible  as  single  copies,  but  pairs,  much 
less  blocks  of  four,  are  almost  unheard-of  rarities. 
Our  own  first  stamp,  the  Penny  Black,  may  cost  6d. 
to  IS.  for  a  single  used  specimen,  but  a  pair  fetches 
6s.  to  7s.  6d.,  and  a  block  of  four  would  be  worth 
40s.  to  50s.  Alas!  that  many  a  one  even  among 
collectors  has  never  yet  realised  that  it  is  vandalism 


>*' 


180       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

to  take  the  scissors  to  a  fine  block  of  imperforates, 
simply  because  he  is  a  collector  of  the  one-stamp-of- 
a-kind  order  and  has  no  use  for  a  block. 

Mr.  Hugo  Griebert  of  London,  in  a  painstaking 
study  of  the  "  Diligencias  "  of  Uruguay,  says  :  "  If 
blocks  and  pairs  had  been  available  it  would  have 
saved  me  years  of  work";  and  again,  "It  is  very 
unfortunate  that  blocks  of  the  *  Diligencia '  stamps 
are  practically  unknown.  Not  a  single  pair  even  of 
the  60  centavos  or  i  real  has  come  to  my  knowledge." 
Of  the  80  centavos,  there  are  a  priceless  block  of 
fifteen  and  a  block  of  four  in  a  collection  in  the 
United  States  ;  there  may  be  others  to  be  found, 
and  they  would  well  repay  the  finding ! 

A  block  of  eight  of  the  Penny  Black  stamp 
(used)  has  fetched  ^15,  and  a  block  of  sixteen 
would  bring  its  owner  at  least  £2$ — some  thou- 
sands per  cent,  over  the  catalogue  quotation  for 
single  copies. 

Here,  too,  I  may  remark  that  with  old  used  stamps, 
especially  the  imperforates,  really  fine  copies  cannot 
always  be  got  at  the  prices  indicated  for  them  in  the 
standard  catalogues.  The  same  applies  to  some 
extent  to  the  unused  copies  also ;  but  the  beginner 
would  be  well  advised  to  choose  even  his  (apparently) 
common  stamps  with  painstaking  regard  to  their 
perfection  of  condition,  and  not  to  break  up  pairs 
or  blocks  of  early  imperforates,  even  though  they 
may  be  inconvenient  for  insertion  in  his  album.  Fine 
copies  are  often  sold  by  the  smaller  dealers  and  in  the 
provinces  and  from  private  sources  at  prices  based  on 
the  catalogue  rates,  and  it  is  in  these  directions  that 


Ml 


l^ 


"I 


'J  J 


■^■y  ^^^jx-o-  ^yy^^-i'^j      '^-^^ 


X/ 


h 


'yc^. 


-O:: 


AX   ENVELOPE   BEARING  THE   RARE   STAMP   ISSUED   IN    1 846   BY  THE 
POSTMASTER  OF   MILLBURY,   MASSACHUSETTS. 


r 


y 


)     J   I  '  /  / 


ONE   OF  THE  STAMPS  ISSUED   BY   THE   POSTMASTER   OF   BATON   ROUGE, 
LOUISIANA,   DURING   THE   CIVIL  WAR,    1861. 


181 


ANOTHER  OF  THE   CONFEDERATE   STATES   RARITIES  ISSUED   BY  THE   POSTMASTER 

OF  GOLIAD,   TEXAS. 


THE   STAMP   ISSUED   BY  THE   POSTMASTER  OF  LIVINGSTON,   ALABAMA. 
{From  the  ^^ Avery""  Collection) 

183 


SCOPE  OF  A  MODERN  COLLECTION    185 

even  to-day,  with  many  thousands  of  keen  hunters, 
bargains  are  still  to  be  had  by  the  collector  possessing 
an  appreciative  eye  for  the  rarity  of  condition. 

In  the  advanced  collection  of  to-day  there  is  no 
wavering  over  the  used  and  the  unused  question.     A 
lot  of  ink  has  been  spilt  in  the  controversies  over  the 
comparative  interest,  importance,  or  other  claim  of         \^ 
these  two  general  conditions  of  postage-stamps.    To- 
day both  unused  and  used  stamps  are  necessary  to 
the  study  of  stamps.     A  specialised  collection  con- 
taining only  unused  specimens  would  indeed  be  an 
"  ill-roasted  ^g%r  and  would  fail  to  show  the  history 
of  the   stamps  during  their  currency.     The  unused 
stamps  show  the  pristine  condition  of  the  varying 
shades  of  successive  printings ;  the  used  ones  enable 
the  collector  to  place  those  successive  shades  in  their 
correct   sequence,   even   to   show   for  what   purpose 
special  printings  were  required.    The  most  evidential 
items  in  a  stamp  collection  are  often  the  used  copies 
which   have   been   preserved   on  the  entire  original 
envelope,  a  fact  which  gives  to  the  stamp  used  on 
the  envelope  a  special  value  not  always  to  be  gauged 
by  the  catalogue  quotation  for  an  ordinary  used  copy. 
A  Penny  Black  stamp  of  Great  Britain  should   be 
worth  at  least  two  to  three  times  "catalogue"  if  on 
the  entire  original ;  but  if  the  original  had  been  used 
on  May  6,  1840  (the  first  day  authorised  for  its  use), 
the  envelope  with  stamp  would  acquire  an  excep- 
tional interest  out  of  all  proportion  to  "catalogue." 
In  a  specialised  price  list  before  me  at  this  moment 
it  is  priced  at  ;£"io,  less  25  per  cent,  for  the  entire 
letter ;    one   used    on   the    following    Sunday,   May 


\ 


186       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

loth,  IS  priced  at  £1$.^  The  Rev.  G.  C.  B.  Madden, 
of  Armitage  Bridge,  had  a  copy  on  a  letter  of  May 
5th,  but  the  stamp  was  not,  cancelled.  The  cover 
bears  the  stamp  and  the  indication — 

**  Paid  Penny  Postage, 

*'  Miss  Jones, 

*  *  Addington  Square, 

"  Camberwell." 

and  the  enclosure  is  as  follows : — 

'*Brompton  Place, 

'^  May  5,  1840. 
"  My  Dear  Floral  Friend, — To  make  you  stare  I  send  you  a 
Queen's  Head,  the  day  before  it  is  in  Penny  Circulation.  To-morrow 
it  will  be  obliterated  by  a  Post  Office  Stamp.  What  a  pity  that  they 
should  make  Victoria  Gummy  like  an  old  woman,  without  teeth  as  I 
am.  I  write  this  without  spectacles,  therefore  will  strain  my  ninety- 
and-one  eyes  no  longer  than  in  saying  I  hope  you  are  All  well  at  Home. 

'*  Yours 

**  Gratefully, 

♦*  John  Alexander.'* 

The  cancellation  may  also  be  a  factor  in  the 
relative  scarcity  of  a  used  specimen.  Coloured  post- 
marks often  have  some  special  significance  or  may  be 
merely  accidental  applications  of  the  "  chops "  to 
the  wrong  inking  pad.  In  the  price  list  already 
mentioned  I  find  the  Penny  Black  quoted  with  the 
various  coloured  Maltese  cross  postmarks  (ordinary 
used  copies,  not  on  "  entire ")  as  follows  : — red  8d., 
black  9d.,  blue  60s.,  violet  40s.,  marone  4s.,  brown  Ss., 

^  I  mention  these  and  certain  other  quotations,  not  as  standard  valua- 
tions, but  to  indicate  the  comparative  importance  of  these  and  other 
factors  in  determining  the  rarity  of  individual  specimens. 


• 

A 

2 

m_ 

m 

n 
n 

1 

mmijo  "itc  * 

%. 

•C 

1 

i.^-^ 

i 


o 


\ 


<     ^ 


187 


SCOPE  OF  A  MODERN  COLLECTION    189 

orange   7s.  6d.,  yellow   15s.,  vermilion   4s.,  carmine 
2s.  6d. 

Beyond  the  items  the  character  of  which  I  have 
indicated  as  desirable  in  the  historical  collection, 
there  are  others,  which  will  readily  suggest  them- 
selves to  the  collector  who  develops  a  keen  enthusiasm 
for  his  specialite.  Portraits  of  persons  concerned  in  \>^^ 
the  production  of  the  stamps  and  in  their  use  often 
lend  an  enhanced  interest  to  the  collection  as  a 
whole,  and  sometimes  maps  are  conveniently  inserted  ^L--^ 
in  the  album  to  show  the  geographical  disposition  of 
the  places  where  stamps  were  issued  or  used.  No 
one  can  expect  those  who  have  not  studied  the 
particular  speciality  to  understand,  without  such  a 
guide,  the  use  of  the  "  zemstvo "  stamps  of  Russia, 
the  courier  stamps  of  Morocco,  the  Treaty-Port 
stamps  of  China,  the  provisionals  of  Mexico,  or  the 
Chilian  stamps  used  in  the  Peruvian  campaign  of 
1881-3. 

In  concluding  this  chapter  I  would  allude  to  the 
interest  and  value  of  the  collector's  acquisition  and 
preservation  of  modern  documents.  In  the  present 
day  there  are  few  events  of  importance  that  are  not 
duly  chronicled  in  the  newspapers,  and  events  of 
philatelic  interest  are  largely  recorded  in  the  news- 
papers specially  devoted  to  Philately,  such  as  The 
Postage  Stamp  (weekly)  in  Britain  and  MekeeVs 
Weekly  Stamp  News  in  the  United  States.  But  with 
the  enormous  increase  in  bulk  of  newspaper  records, 
they  are  becoming  constantly  more  difficult  of  ready 
access  for  information  on  many  points  of  even  con- 
siderable   importance.      Further,  the    original   Act, 

10 


100       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Decree,  Postal  Notice  included  within  the  album 
containing  the  stamps  referred  to  leaves  no  room 
for  any  question  of  printer's  errors,  which  may  often 
crop  up  in  newspaper  reproductions,  telegraphed 
perhaps  in  cipher  from  a  distant  colony.  Among 
modern  items  added  to  my  own  collection  I  regard 
the  card  sent  out  by  the  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  Joseph  Ward, 
as  Premier  and  Postmaster  of  New  Zealand,  on  the 
establishment  of  Universal  Penny  Postage  from  that 
colony  as  of  historic  interest. 

WITH  THE  HON.  J.  G.  WARDS  COMPLIMENTS. 

3n   cye-ixdina    jot    ijout    acceptaticc    tfiio,    ovu    o|    t-fte    -f^ia-t    atticfeo 
jxx>tcd    itnSc*    tkc    ^nivctaai    ^mnvj     So>tcu^    ocf\^\ni.   an3    9at«- 

MOW    tfu5    Ma^on:>     aw*ttn<J*,     an3    ttiot    tfuxt    t4»    \yta^    wW\c'\ 

GBMEKAL   POST  OFPlCE. 

WELLINGTON.  NJl 


Another  is  a  typewritten  circular  calling  for  designs 
from  artists  in  competition  for  the  new  stamps  of  the 
Australian  Commonwealth,  and  I  was  recently  in- 
debted to  a  correspondent  in  Pretoria  for  sending  me 
the  following  notice,  the  historic  interest  in  which 
needs  no  enlarging  upon  from  me. 


DESIGNS   AND    COLOURS   OF   THE   STAMPS 

THAT    WJIL    KK    IN     l.-!.    .Mji-R 

APRIL  THE   I-i.   1884. 


A  ROUGHLY  PRINTED  CARD  SHOWING  THE  DESIGNS  AND  COLOURS  FOR 
THE  UNIFIED  "POSTAGE  AND  REVENUE"  STAMPS  OF  GREAT! 
BRITAIN,    1884. 


191 


A  '^-^W 


Union  of  South  Jlfrica. 


li  fs  notified  that  a  new  postage  stamp  of 
the  2sd.  denonif nation  will  f9e  on  sale  from 
the  4th  November  the  day  of  the  opening  of 
the  Union  Parliament  and  will  be  practically, 
therefore,  a  stamp  commemorative  of  the 
ciflminating  fact  of  Union.  The  denomination 
represents  the  Universal  Postal  Union  unit  of 
postage,  and  the  stamp  is  being  issued  in 
advance  of,  and  apart  from,  any  general  issue 
for  the  South  African  Union. 

By  Order. 

Pretoria,  1st  October,  1910. 

THE  FIRST  POSTAGE  STAMP  OF  THE  PRESENT  REIGN,  TOGETHER 
WITH  THE  POST  OFFICE  NOTICE  CONCERNING  ITS  ISSUE  ON 
NOVEMBER  4,   I9IO. 

193 


194       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

This  class  of  document  should  be  the  more  acces- 
sible to  collectors  from  the  little  interest  attached  to 
them  by  the  officials  to  whom  they  are  generally 
sent.  How  little  they  appreciate  their  evidential 
value  was  brought  home  to  me  in  a  painful  dis- 
appointment a  year  or  so  ago.  Having  been  on  the 
Continent  for  a  few  days,  I  returned  to  find  among 
my  correspondence  an  offer  from  an  elderly  man  who 
had  kept  a  post-office  for  a  long  period  of  years,  and 
he  had  saved  in  a  series  of  portfolios  all  the  printed 
notices  sent  out  from  the  General  Post  Office  to 
postmasters  from  the  'fifties  until  the  end  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  I  had  had  some  curiosities  from 
this  individual  before,  which  led  him  to  offer  me 
these  papers  when  he  came  upon  them  in  a  clearing- 
up  mood.  I  was  then  engaged  on  a  section  of  my 
history  of  the  English  stamps,  and  wrote  off  im- 
mediately upon  my  return  home.  To  my  utter 
dismay  he  replied  that,  not  having  heard  from  me, 
after  a  few  days  of  waiting  he  had  burnt  the  lot 
to  get  rid  of  them ! 


INTRODUCTION    OF 

CEflRCE  V.  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

SALE  OF  LETTER  CARDS,  THIN  POST-CARDS  AND 
BOOKS  OF  STAMPS  AT  FACE  VALDE. 

REDDCTIOS  IN  PRICES  QF  EMBOSSED  ENVELOPES  A  WRAPPERS 

Halfpenny  and  Penny  adhesive  Postage  Stamps  of  new  design  bearing 
the  eflBgy  of  His  Majesty  King  George,  and  registered  letter  envelopes 
and  thin  post-cards  bearing  impressed  stamps  with  the  same  effigy, 
will  be  placed  on  sale  on  the  22nd  of  June,  the'  day  of  His  Majesty  s 
Coronation,  at  all  Post  Offices  open  on  that  day  At  other  Post  Offices 
they  will  first  be  sold  on  the  23rd  of  June,  or,  at  Offices  which  are  closed 
on  that  day  also  on  the  24th  of  June  New  adhesive  stamps  of  other 
denominations  and  other  articles  of  stationery  bearing  impressed 
stamps  of  new  design  will  be  issued  ets  soon  as  possible  afterwards 

Adhesive  postage  stamps  and  stamped  stationery  of  the  present 
issue  will  also  be  on  sale  at  Post  Offices  until  the  remaining  stocks 
are  exhausted.  All  Edward  VII  postage  stamps  and  all  stamps  of 
previous  issues  which  are  at  present  available  in  payment  of  postage 
will  still  be  available 

The  following  reductions  in  the  priced  of  the  principal  articles 
of  stamped  stationery  WHICH  WILL  APPLY  TO  ARTICLES  BOTH 
OF  THE  PRESENT  AND  THE  NEW  ISSUES,  will  tak!e  effect  on 
Coronation  Day:-?- 

POST-CARDS.--Thin  post-cards  bearing  id.  stamp*4d,  each     (Swjut 
post-cards  will  c«ntinue  to  be  sold  at  6d  a  packet  of  11,  or  fd.  for 
a  single  card) 
LETTER  CARDS  bearing  Id.  stamp—lch  eack 

BOOKS  OF  STAMPS— Books  containing  eighteen  Id.  and  twelve 
id.  stamps  of  George  V  design  will  be  issued  at  an  early  date— price 
2s.  each.  Pending  their  issue  the  present  books,  containing  eighteen 
Id.  and  eleven  *d  stamps  of  Edward  Vn.  design,  will,  on  and  after 
the  22nd  of  June,  be  sold  for  Is  11  id  instead  of  2s.  as  at  present. 
ESiBOSSED  ENVELOPES - 

Court  size  (bearing  Id.  stampr==ls  a  packet  of  11 
Commercial  size  (bearing  Id.  stamp)— 2s   a  packet  of  23 
Foolscap  size  (bearing  *a   stamp)--»ls.  a  packet  of  21. 
Commercial  size  (bearing  ^d   stamp)— Is.  a  packet  of  22. 
NEWSPAPER  WRAPPERSr-(Bearing  id  stamp)— la.  a  packet  of  22. 
(Bearing  Id.  stamp)-*2s   a  packet  of  23. 
All  cards,  envelopes  and  wrappers  are  sold  in  any  quantities  less 
than  a  complete  packet  at  proportionate  prices.    Full  tables  of  these 
prices  will  appear  in  the  Post  Office  Guide  issued  on  the  Ist  of  July. 

"•^"•^iS-h  iJ^'iaT"^^ By  Command  of  the  Postmattter  general. 


THE  OFFICIAL  NOTICE  OF  THE  ISSUE  OF  THE   NEW  STAMPS  OF 

GREAT  BRITAIN  FOR  THE  REIGN  OF   KING  GEORGE  V. 

195 


VI 

ON  LIMITING 
A  COLLECTION 


CHAPTER  VI 

ON   LIMITING  A  COLLECTION 

The  difficulties  of  a  general  collection — The  unconscious  trend  to 
specialism — Technical  limitations  :  Modes  of  production  ;  Printers 
—  Geographical  groupings :  Europe  and  divisions  —  Suggested 
groupings  of  British  Colonies — United  States,  Protectorates  and 
Spheres  of  Influence — Islands  of  the  Pacific — The  financial  side 
of  the  *' great"  philatelic  countries. 

To  the  child  in  stamp-collecting  the  boundless  world 
is  small;  he  will  seek  to  bring  into  his  net  stamps 
from  everywhere,  postage  and  fiscal,  exhibition  labels, 
trading  stamps,  and  all  that  has  the  shape  or 
semblance  of  what  he  conceives  to  be  subjects  for 
his  collecting.  The  collector  of  fuller  experience 
knows  that  he  must  make  a  lesser  world  of  his  own. 
To  attempt  the  whole  wide  world,  even  in  what 
I  may  term  "ordinary"  postage-stamps,  is  a  task 
which  can  scarcely  attain  even  approximately  to 
completion  in  these  days,  and  the  collector  on  such 
a  scale  would  lose  much  of  the  advantage  that  comes 
of  specialisation  in  particular  directions.  He  would 
know  little  of  the  world's  postage-stamps  except  in  a 
superficial    way,    that    would    never    bring    him    a 

199 


200       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

bargain,  and  would  probably  make  him  a  frequent 
victim  of  the  unscrupulous. 

It  is  well  enough  that  the  beginner  should  first 
flounder  in  a  sea  of  stamps,  to  learn  the  first  rudi- 
ments of  the  study.  The  specialist  needs  a  general 
education  as  a  groundwork  in  stamp-collecting,  just 
as  he  does  in  any  other  pursuit.  But  it  is  almost 
unavoidable  that  the  tendency  must  come  to  the 
advancing  collector  to  reserve  his  strength  in  the 
direction  which  most  attracts  him,  or  for  which  he 
enjoys  special  advantages. 

It  is  in  the  defining  of  these  limitations  that  many 
collectors  are  constantly  seeking  for  guidance.  "  Can 
you  tell  me  a  good  country  in  which  to  specialise  ?  " 
is  an  ever-recurring  query.  The  answer  should,  of 
course,  be  extracted  from  the  experience  of  the 
individual  who  sets  the  question.  It  may  be  laid 
down  as  a  maxim  that  the  general  collector  is  not 
yet  ripe  for  specialism  until  his  general  experience 
has  turned  his  inclinations  to  some  well  -  defined 
speciality.  The  trend  of  one's  inclinations  may  be 
clearly  reflected  in  the  general  collection,  where  it  is 
seen  that  one  country  has  been  by  some — possibly 
unconscious  —  bias  developed  beyond  all  others. 
Every  stamp-lover  knows  that  there  are  some  stamps 
which  exert  over  him  personally  a  peculiar  fascina- 
tion. It  may  be  due  to  some  interest  in  the  country 
of  their  issue,  or  to  some  special  attractions  in  their 
style  of  production,  and  indeed  to  a  variety  of  other 
causes. 

It  was  a  solitary — rather  bilious-looking — stamp 
that  first  obsessed  me,  a  good  many  years  ago  now. 


ON  LIMITING  A  COLLECTION       201 

It  was  the  3  cents  Sarawak,  1869,  printed  in  brown 
on  yellow  paper,  which  was  in  the  collection  of  my 
schooldays,  and  I  had  always  wanted  to  make  it  the 
nucleus  of  a  special  collection.  But,  before  the 
opportunity  came  for  realising  this  ambition,  a 
different  interest  had  arisen  in  that  adventure-story 
republic  of  Hayti,  which  led  me  first  to  try  to 
specialise  its  stamps,  which  having  done,  after  my 
notions  of  specialising  at  that  period,  the  next  start 
was  made  with  my  early  friend  the  peculiar  yellow- 
brown  label  which  a  Scottish  firm  lithographed  for 
the  Rajah  of  Sarawak.  I  suppose  the  spice  of 
adventure  suggested  by  both  Hayti  and  Sarawak, 
and  subsequently  China  and  Abyssinia,  was  respon- 
sible for  turning  one's  specialistic  tendencies  into 
definite  channels. 

But  whatever  the  influence  may  be  with  some,  the 
question  is  so  constantly  being  put  that  it  may  be 
useful  to  outline  some  skeleton  plans,  which  are  all 
capable  of  providing  good  scope  for  the  exercise  of 
philatelic  talent. 

The  close  study  of  detail,  and  particularly  the 
increasing  interest  taken  by  collectors  in  the  manner 
of  production,  has  led  some  students  to  devote  them- 
selves to  the  stamps  produced  by  a  particular  firm  of 
manufacturers.  The  finest  collection  on  these  lines 
would  be  that  dealing  with  the  stamps  produced  by 
Messrs.  Perkins,  Bacon  &  Co.  during  the  period  of, 
say,  1840-80.  This  would  include  the  low-value 
English  stamps  of  the  line-engraved  series,  the  early 
imperforate  and  perforated  Ceylons,  which  in  them- 
selves afford  ample  scope  for  a  big  collection,  those 


202       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

old  favourites  the  triangular  Capes,  the  majority  of 
the  stamps  of  the  West  Indian  Islands,  a  few  from 
Mauritius  and  Natal,  the  most  interesting  of  the 
issues  for  New  Zealand,  and  several  of  the  Australian 
States,  some  of  our  North  American  possessions, 
with  many  others,  not  forgetting  Chili's  early  issues. 
The  stamps  in  such  a  collection  would  all  be  line- 
engraved. 

Messrs.  De  La  Rue  &  Co.,  the  greatest  stamp- 
printers  in  the  world,  would  also  provide  an  interest- 
ing sphere  for  special  study,  embracing  line-engraved 
stamps  from  the  old  Perkins- Bacon  plates,  printed 
in  a  superb  series  of  pigments,  distinctive  from 
those  of  the  earlier  printers,  and  also  the  long 
range  of  surface-printed  stamps  for  which  this  firm 
has  been  noted. 

There  are  other  printers  whose  work  could  be 
dealt  with  by  the  collector  in  a  like  manner,  and 
the  would-be  specialist  on  these  lines  has  an  oppor- 
tunity of  choosing  a  very  small  field  or  a  very 
large  one,  the  two  I  have  expressly  mentioned 
being  capable  of  treatment  on  a  very  large  scale 
indeed. 

A  more  general  limitation  begins  with  political  or 
geographical  grouping.  "Europeans"  are  in  con- 
stant demand,  as  there  are  many  collectors  who 
confine  themselves  to  the  stamps  of  the  European 
States  as  a  group.  It  is,  however,  a  very  large  group, 
and  few  could  hope  to  successfully  cope  with  the 
whole  of  it  on  anything  approaching  specialist  lines. 
The  Castle- Mann  collection,  sold  in  1906  for  nearly 
;f  30,000,  was  limited  to  European  stamps.  But  Europe 


ON  LIMITING  A  COLLECTION       203 

for  the  collector  naturally  subdivides  into  lesser 
groups,  e.g.^  the  German  States,  Italian  States,  Balkan 
States,  &c.,  and  these  in  their  turn  yield  single 
countries,  many  of  which  will  provide  in  them- 
selves an  abundance  of  work  and  study  for  the 
enthusiast. 

The  fashion  which  has  for  many  years  kept  the 
stamps  of  the  British  Empire  in  constantly  increasing 
demand  is  rather  curious,  in  that  what  may  be  attri- 
buted— at  least  partly — to  patriotism  at  home  has 
yet.  prevailed  in  foreign  countries,  where  British 
Colonials  are  collected  even  more  than  the  national 
products.  In  the  United  States,  for  example,  the 
collector  has  until  quite  lately  somewhat  neglected 
the  grand  series  of  beautifully  engraved  stamps  of 
the  Republic  and  has  followed  the  crowd  of  collectors 
of  British  Colonials.  This  may  be  explained  in  some 
measure  by  the  shrewdness  of  the  American  investor, 
whose  confidence  in  the  security  of  his  money  in 
good  old  British  Colonial  stamps  is  still  unbounded. 
At  the  same  time  philatelic  experience  is  that  every 
country  is  gradually  being  taken  by  the  students  and 
getting  its  turn,  so  that  as  the  United  States  has  a 
growing  family  of  its  own,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  in 
due  course  we  shall  find  more  United  States  collectors 
working  out  their  philatelic  salvation  on  their  own 
lines  on  a  national,  or  American,  basis.  The  American 
field  is  a  particularly  fine  one  and  offers  the  most 
virgin  philatelic  soil.  Nearly  every  other  group  has 
been  pretty  well  collected  and  studied,  though  not 
exhaustively.  The  United  States  itself  has  had 
much  attention,  but  Mexico  and  South  and  Central 


204       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 


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ON  LIMITING  A  COLLECTION       205 

America,  Cuba,  Hayti,  the  Dominican  Republic  are 
comparatively  fresh  soil,  and  the  student  can  invest 
at  present  prices  with  a  good  assurance  that,  as 
United  States  expansion  and  influence  become  more 
overwhelming  in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  all  these 
countries  will  enjoy  increased  popularity  with  the 
stamp-collector. 

The  foregoing  British  Empire  groups  are  given  as 
examples  of  how  this  great  division  may  be  sub- 
divided. 

Of  the  stamps  of  the  great  English-speaking 
Republic  and  the  countries  now  or  lately  under  her 
protection  or  looking  to  her  for  financial  help  groups 
may  be  formed  : — 

United  States  :  The  General  Issues  :— 

(a)  With  Of  without — 

The  Postmasters'  stamps. 
The  Carrier's  stamps. 
Confederate  States,  General  issues. 
Confederate  States,  Postmasters'  stamps. 

(b)  With  or  without — 

Cuba  (since  1899). 

Guam  (since  1899). 

Hawaii  (since  1898). 

Panama  Canal  Zone  (since  1904). 

Philippine  Islands  (since  1899). 

Porto  Rico  (since  1898). 

(c)  With  or  without — 

Dominican  Republic. 
Haytian  Republic. 

(d)  With  or  without — 

Liberia. 


206       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 


Other  suggested  groupings  may  be  taken  from : — 


The  Pacific  Islands. 


(a)  British. 

Aitutaki. 
British  Solomon 

Islands. 
Cook  Islands. 
Fiji  (after  Sept.,  1874). 
Gilbert  and  Ellice 

Islands. 
New  Hebrides 

(Condominium). 
Niue. 
Papua. 
Penrhyn. 
Tonga. 


(b)  French. 
New  Caledonia. 
New  Hebrides 

(Condominium). 
Oceanic  Settlements. 
Tahiti. 


(c)  German. 
Caroline  Islands. 
German  New  Guinea. 
Marianne  Islands. 
Marshall  Islands. 
Samoa  (since  1899). 


(d)  United  States. 
Guam. 

Hawaii  (since  July,  1898). 
Philippine  Islands  (since 
1899). 


Each  of  these,  and  the  numerous  other  groupings, 
political,  geographical,  &c.,  which  they  will  readily 
suggest  to  the  reader,  is  capable  of  subdivision 
down  to  single  countries  or  colonies,  or  into  periods, 
just  as  others  are  capable  of  expansion  if  larger 
groups  be  desired. 

In  making  his  choice  the  collector  will  do  well 
to  give  free  scope  to  his  tastes  and  inclinations, 
but  he  should  not  be  disregardful  of  the  financial 
side  of  the  question,  which  is  apt  to  confine  the 
limitations  of  a  speciality  rather  more  closely  than 
would  his  inclinations.  It  is  well  to  realise  from 
the  start  that  some  capital  will  be  required  to 
tackle  a  large  group,  and  if  the  collector  wants 
to  specialise   in   the  first  issues  of  British  Guiana, 

*  The  Oceanic  Settlements  comprise  the  more  easterly  French 
islands,  administered  by  a  Governor,  with  Privy  and  Administrative 
Councils,  &c.,  the  seat  of  government  being  at  Papeete,  in  Tahiti, 


ON  LIMITING  A  COLLECTION       207 

the  "Missionaries"  of  Hawaii,  the  "Post  Offices" 
and  "Post  Paids"  of  Mauritius,  the  "Gold  Diggings" 
of  New  South  Wales,  the  "circular"  Moldavias,  he 
will  have  to  loosen  wide  the  strings  of  a  bounteously 
filled  purse.  Happily  for  the  stamp  collector,  the 
interest  and  charm  of  his  hobby  is  its  broad 
adaptability  to  all  requirements,  and  it  cannot  be 
gainsaid  that  the  joys  of  the  hunt  for  stamps  are 
more  real  and  stimulating  to  the  collector  of  modest 
means,  who  personally  knows  and  loves  his  stamps, 
than  to  the  magnate  who  deputes  the  "  collecting " 
to  a  secretary.  In  many  instances,  of  course,  the 
secretary  is  a  desideratum;  the  vast  collections  of 
modern  times  practically  necessitate  an  expert 
assistant,  especially  where  the  owner  is  a  busy 
man ;  but  in  the  really  great  collections  of  postage- 
stamps  it  is  good  to  see  the  evidences  of  the  personal 
attention  and  study  of  the  owner.  Philately  is 
indeed  fortunate  in  the  number  of  wealthy  stamp- 
lovers  who  build  up  monumental  collections,  at 
great  personal  labour  and  expense,  and  are  ever 
ready  to  show  portions  of  them  at  exhibitions  and 
societies'  meetings,  and,  indeed,  to  publish  the  results 
of  their  researches  for  the  benefit  of  their  fellow- 
students. 


11 


VII 

STAMP- 
COLLECTING 
AS  AN 
INVESTMENT 


CHAPTER  VII 

STAMP-COLLECTING  AS  AN   INVESTMENT 

The  collector,  the  dealer,  and  the  combination — ^The  factor  of 
expense — Natural  rise  of  cost — Past  possibilities  in  British 
"Collector's  Consols,"  in  Barbados,  in  British  Guiana,  in 
Canada,  in  "Capes" — Modern  speculations:  Cayman  Islands — 
Further  investments :  Ceylon,  Cyprus,  Fiji  Times  Express, 
Gambia,  India,  Labuan,  West  Indies — The  "Post  Office" 
Mauritius — The  early  Nevis,  British  North  America,  Sydney 
Views,  New  Zealand — Provisionals  :  bond  fide  and  speculative — 
Some  notable  appreciations — * '  Booms. " 

If  we  define  the  philatelist  as  a  lover  of  postage- 
stamps,  we  may  very  properly  express  the  view  that 
his  affections  should  be  chiefly  centred  upon  their 
historic  and  philatelic  associations.  Stamp-collect- 
ing for  most  of  us  is  a  recreation  and  a  respite  from 
the  anxieties  of  the  money-market,  and  many 
collectors  are  quite  content  with  the  joys  of  collation 
and  research.  At  the  same  time  we  are  not  out  of 
sympathy  with  the  individual  who, 

"Whatever  thing  he  had  to  do 
He  did,  and  made  it  pay  him  too." 

He  represents  one  of  the  strongest  influences  in 
an 


212       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

the  collecting  world,  and  is  no  doubt  a  tower  of 
strength,  imparting  stability  to  the  stamp-market. 
The  term  "  amateur  "  is  little  used  in  connection  with 
our  pursuit,  and  the  quibbles  which  seem  inseparable 
in  other  pursuits,  from  the  endeavour  to  draw  an 
imaginary  line  round  the  amateur  to  separate  him 
from  the  professional,  are  all  but  non-existent  in 
philately. 

We  use  the  terms  "collector"  and  "dealer,"  but  that 
one  is  not  the  negation  of  the  other  is  clear  from  the 
admission  of  the  compound  term  "  collector-dealer," 
which  combination  applies  to  a  very  great  proportion 
of  the  more  promiscuous  portion  of  the  philatelic 
world.  The  mere  vending  of  postage-stamps  would 
not,  I  think,  convert  the  collector  into  the  collector- 
dealer,  as  by  the  ingenious  and  widespread  system 
of  stamp-exchanges  collectors  are  obliged  to  put  a 
price  upon  their  duplicates,  and  cash  is  the  universal 
medium  of  exchange. 

In  a  broad  sense  the  collector-dealer  class  is 
composed  of  collectors  who  are  glad  to  enjoy 
their  hobby,  but  are  under  the  necessity,  or  have 
the  desire,  to  make  their  hobby  pay  for  itself,  and 
perhaps  yield  an  addition  to  their  regular  income. 

It  is  perhaps  due  to  the  all-absorbing  character  of 
the  hunt  for  rare  stamps  that  collectors  and  dealers 
enjoy  unrestrained  intercourse  in  most  of  the  societies, 
though  in  the  Royal  Philatelic  Society  the  rules  forbid 
the  admission  of  regular  dealers  to  membership. 

Among  the  best  dealers  we  find  some  of  the  most 
advanced  students  of  philately,  who  when  it  comes  to 
research  have  many  a  time  risen  above  considerations 


COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT    213 

of  commerce.  Some  of  the  most  valuable  contribu- 
tions to  the  literature  of  philately  have  come  from 
their  unaccustomed  but  painstaking  pens,  and  most 
of  the  dealers  of  repute  take  a  pleasure  in  assisting 
the  student  to  unravel  a  problem.  In  whatever 
spirit  we  form  our  collections,  and  with  no  matter 
what  object  in  view,  it  is  but  human  to  nourish  the 
hope,  even  if  some  shrinking  from  the  admission  of 
pecuniary  motives  never  permits  us  to  express  it, 
that  the  collection  formed  with  loving  care  and  a 
considerable  expenditure  of  money  shall  not,  if 
parted  with,  result  in  a  loss,  or  if  retained  suffer  a 
heavy  depreciation.  If  we  desire  to  interest  others 
we  must  be  prepared  for  the  motif  of  the  primary 
questions  of  the  uninitiated,  "  What  is  it  worth  ? " 
"  What  did  you  give  for  it  ? "  though  one  can  never 
hope  to  satisfy  the  ingenuous  folk  who  ask  the 
collector  of  many  years'  standing  "  How  many 
stamps  have  you  got?  "  and  "  I  suppose  they  ought 
to  be  worth  pots  of  money — how  much  do  you 
think?" 

There  are  several  factors  in  the  stamp  trade  which  y^ 
are  worth  noting,  as  they  have  contributed  in  no  small 
measure  to  the  prosperity  of  the  business,  and  they 
must  increase  our  confidence  in  the  security  of  our 
collections  as  investments.  A  world-wide  market  is 
open  to  the  vendor  of  rare  stamps ;  it  is  convenient 
of  access  beyond  all  other  markets  for  bric-h-brac^ 
because  the  rarest  stamp  in  the  world  may  be  safely 
transmitted  anywhere,  within  an  envelope,  through 
the  post.  The  adaptability  of  the  postage-stamp  to 
effective  and  convenient  arrangement  is  not  of  more 


214       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

importance  to  the  collector  than  the  portability  of 
his  goods,  rare  or  common,  is  to  the  dealer.  It 
involves  no  more  trouble  to  sell  a  rare  stamp  in 
Yokohama  than  it  does  over  a  counter  in  that 
thoroughfare  of  stamp-dealers,  the  Strand.  Nor  is 
there  the  risk  of  damage  that  would  attend  the 
transmission  of  a  bulky  article  of  vertu  to  a 
customer  in  a  remote  country. 

It  is  this  same  portability  which  is  constantly 
increasing  the  demand  for  good  and  rare  stamps 
from  collectors.  For  the  majority,  almost  any  form 
of  collecting  brings  with  it  a  serious  problem  of 
space,  arrangement,  and  security.  We  may  display 
our  collection  of  old  English  porcelain  about  the 
house,  and  beautify  our  surroundings,  but  it  is  at 
the  cost  of  no  little  risk  from  the  philistine  fingers 
of  the  abigail.  We  may  bring  together  a  great 
array  of  ornithological  specimens,  but  the  cabinet 
space  taken  up  by  a  collection  of  but  moderate 
proportions  is  out  of  all  comparison  to  the  compact 
album,  which  may  contain  a  large  and  portable 
collection  of  stamps.  I  would  not  be  understood 
to  even  cursorily  enter  upon  comparisons  of  different 
hobbies,  but  it  is  useful  to  mention  the  comparative 
facility  with  which  transactions  in  rare  stamps  can 
be  negotiated  to  indicate  the  cumulative  effect  this 
convenience  must  have  in  the  value  of  old  stamps. 

Another  important  factor  is  the  comparative 
standardisation  of  stamp  values.  No  person  of 
average  intelligence  need  ever  be  totally  in  the 
dark  as  to  the  approximate  selling  value  of  the 
majority  of  old  postage-stamps,  for  in  nearly  every 


COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT    215 

language,  excepting  some  of  the  Oriental  tongues, 
there  are  standard  price-lists  of  the  leading  dealers 
which  serve  as  guides  to  the  majority  of  both  buyers 
and  sellers,  for  these  works  are  accessible  both  to  the 
dealer  and  the  collector. 

When  we  come  to  consider  the  supply  of  old 
postage-stamps,  we  cannot  but  recognise  a  further 
important  factor  in  their  security  as  an  investment 
The  majority  of  the  rare,  medium  and  common 
postage-stamps  have  been  issued  with  the  Govern- 
ment imprimatur;  re-issues  and  reprintings  are 
known,  but  they  are  the  exception.  Generally 
speaking,  a  stamp  is  no  sooner  obsolete  than  it 
commences  to  soar  in  the  stamp-dealers'  price-lists. 
In  the  cases  of  stamps  of  the  larger  countries  which 
have  had  a  long  period  of  currency  the  rise  is  slow, 
but  the  frequency  of  the  occurrence  of  unusual  cir- 
cumstances which  cut  short  the  life  of  a  stamp  on 
the  active  postal  list  has  introduced  a  sporting 
element  into  even  the  collecting  of  current  stamps. 
But  it  is  inevitable  that,  with  the  retirement  of  a 
postage-stamp  from  use,  there  must  come  sooner 
or  later  a  stoppage  in  the  supply  at  the  normal 
rates  prevailing  during  its  period  of  currency.  The 
older  stamps,  most  of  the  early  issues  of  all  countries, 
have  for  fifty  years  past  been  gradually  absorbed  in 
the  great  collections,  some  of  them  extremely  limited 
in  their  original  use,  now  withdrawn  from  the  market 
into  the  stable  repositories  of  national  museums,  and 
the  supply  is  the  one  serious  difficulty  with  which 
the  dealer  has  to  contend.  This  difficulty  has  its 
value  to  the  collector,  for  to  replenish  their  stocks  the 


r 


216       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

dealers  have  to  buy  back  from  the  collector,  and 
they  compete  keenly  for  the  acquisition  of  collections 
formed  by  private  individuals,  if  they  contain  the 
right  class  of  stamps.  My  endeavour  in  this  chat 
will  be  to  indicate  the  character  of  the  stamps  which 
have  risen  in  the  philatelic  period  1862  to  191 1,  all 
of  which  may  be  classed  as  "  Collector's  Consols," 
but  most  of  which  are  at  this  date  and  at  present 
prices  likely  to  yield  an  excellent  return  in  the 
future. 

To  take  our  own  country  first,  for  here  purchases 
would  have  been  made  at  first-hand,  that  is,  at  the 
post-office,  there  are  many  stamps,  some  of  com- 
paratively low  facial  value,  that  would  have  formed 
most  desirable  investments  if  one  had  only  been  able 
to  prophesy,  and  prophesy  correctly. 

The  most  notable  examples  amongst  British 
stamps  of  rapid  and  great  appreciation  in  value  are 
the  Twopence  Halfpenny  of  1875,  with  error  of 
lettering,  the  Two  Shillings,  orange-brown,  the  Ten 
Shillings  and  One  Pound  of  1878-83,  the  Five 
Pounds — both  telegraph  and  postage  in  the  earliest 
shade — and  certain  "  Officials  "  :  there  are,  of  course, 
others  which  show  an  even  greater  appreciation  on 
their  original  face-value,  but  the  reason  in  that  case 
is  that  small  printings  were  made  of  certain  stamps 
from  a  particular  plate  or  on  certain  paper — 
"abnormals"  to  give  them  their  usual  name — and 
such  stamps  were  not  obtainable  except  by  accident. 

The  Twopence  Halfpenny  error,  though  not  known 
to  the  philatelic  world  until  1893,  ^^.s  present  in 
every  sheet  printed  from  Plate  2  of  that  value,  to  the 


COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT    217 

number  of  no  less  than  35,000,  and  yet,  in  mint 
unused  condition,  it  is  a  very  scarce  stamp,  probably 
worth  £2^.  And  yet  none  amongst  the  thousands 
who  purchased  and  used  one  of  these  errors  thought 
— even  if  he  noticed  the  fact — that  a  mistake  in  one 
of  the  corner  letters  would  some  day  cause  a  great 
rise  in  value. 

Another  well-known  example  is  the  Two  Shillings, 
brown  :  issued  originally  in  1867,  the  first  colour  of 
that  value  was  blue  ;  but  in  1880,  to  avoid  confusion 
with  other  stamps,  it  was  changed  to  orange-brown. 
It  is  said  that  only  1,000  sheets,  or  240,000  stamps, 
were  printed,  a  large  number  certainly,  but  com- 
paratively small  when  it  is  remembered  that  of  some 
stamps  many  millions  were  issued ;  small,  too,  when 
it  is  considered  that  the  minimum  charge  on  tele- 
grams was  a  shilling,  and  foreign  postal  rates  were 
high.  An  early  price  in  dealers'  catalogues  was 
seven  shillings  and  sixpence  ;  now  a  fine  unused 
copy  realises  more  pounds  than  it  formerly  did 
shillings. 

The  desiderata  of  British  stamps— ignoring  the 
"  abnormal "  varieties  of  plate  and  paper — are  the 
Ten  Shillings  and  One  Pound  of  1878-83.  Few 
among  the  great  multitude  of  collectors  purchased 
the  two  stamps,  each  on  Cross  pat^  paper  and  each 
on  that  watermarked  with  a  Large  Anchor,  when 
current.  But  those  few  who  did,  and  who  kept  them 
through  the  years  when  the  rise  in  value  was  very 
slight,  ultimately  realised  at  the  top  of  the  market — 
say,  £>ITS  to  ;^200 — towards  the  end  of  the  'nineties. 
The  £1  "  Anchor"  on  bluish  paper,  which  one  could 


218       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

have  bought  in  1882  for  twenty  shillings,  is  now 
priced  at  ;^8o,  showing  a  profit  which  makes  many 
a  collector  in  these  days  sigh  over  lost  oppor- 
tunities. 

Five  Pounds  is  a  high  facial  value,  but  that  sum 
invested  in  the  purchase  of  the  telegraph-stamp,  or 
of  the  postage-stamp  which  superseded  it,  would  now 
be  represented  approximately  by  ;^ioo ;  but  in  the 
case  of  the  Five  Pounds  postage-stamp,  the  paper 
must  be  "  blued  " — "  naturally,"  and  not  through  the 
medium  of  the  blue-bag — and  the  colour  should  be 
of  a  vermilion  almost  merging  into  orange,  and  not 
the  scarlet-vermilion  in  which  this  stamp  finished  its 
career  in  1902. 

In  a  somewhat  different  category  are  the  various 
Official  stamps,  but  as  they  were  obtainable  up  to 
about  1 890  by  any  respectable  applicant  at  Somerset 
House,  the  earlier  varieties  may  fairly  be  included. 
Sets  bought  during  the  1884-90  period  appreciated 
very  little  until  towards  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
when  they  attained  high  prices,  the  One  Pound 
"  I.R.  Official"  in  brown-violet,  on  Imperial  Crown 
paper,  being  the  rarest,  even  rarer  than  the  similar 
stamp  on  the  Orb  paper,  which  without  the  Official 
overprint  is  rarer  than  the  normal  variety. 

Of  subsequent  Official  stamps,  not  obtainable  for 
the  asking,  special  mention  should  be  made  of  the 
three  high  values  of  the  Edwardian  issue — Five 
Shillings,  Ten  Shillings,  and  One  Pound  :  in  1903 
mint  PAIRS  of  the  three  stamps  were  sold  for  forty 
guineas,  and  single  sets  for  ^25.  Nowadays,  pairs 
— the  particular  ones  above  referred   to  were  sub- 


COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT    219 

sequently  severed — would  probably  fetch  a  sum 
running  into  four  figures. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  record  a  few  of  the  notable 
rises  in  value,  in  the  space  of  a  comparatively  short 
period,  of  stamps  issued  in  one  or  other  of  the  British 
colonies,  or  in  some  foreign  country. 

In  March,  1878,  there  was  an  unexpected  shortage 
in  Barbados  of  the  then  current  One  Penny  stamp, 
and  the  island  Post  Office  authorities  supplied  the 
deficiency  by  means  of  a  provisional :  they  perforated 
the  large  Five  Shillings  stamp  down  the  centre,  sur- 
charging each  half  "  id."  These  makeshifts  in  due 
course  reached  England,  and  orders  were  duly  sent 
out  for  a  supply  for  the  stamp-market ;  one  dealer's 
order  was  actually  held  back  by  the  Barbados  post- 
master until  the  arrival  of  a  further  supply  of  the 
ordinary  One  Penny,  when  a  supply  of  that  stamp 
was  sent  him.  Other  dealers  and  collectors  probably 
fared  as  badly,  and  an  unused  pair,  or  even  a  single 
copy,  of  this  rare  stamp  supplies  an  example  of  un- 
earned increment  which  would  delight  a  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer  on  the  look-out  for  more  subjects 
for  taxation.  What  a  nice  little  nest-egg  would  a 
shilling's-worth  of  those  stamps  now  represent ! 

Of  the  circular  British  Guiana  stamps  of  1850-51 
it  is  hardly  fair  to  speak,  as  they  were  issued  and 
became  obsolete  before  even  the  oldest  philatelist 
ever  thought  of  collecting;  but  if  any  far-seeing 
individual  had  then  invested  the  modest  sum  of 
thirteenpence  in  the  purchase  of  an  unused  copy  of 
each  of  the  four  values,  and  had  had  them  "laid 
down  "  until  the  present  year  of  grace,  or  even  until 


220       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

so  comparatively  far  back  as  1890,  the  sum  they 
would  realise  in  open  market  would  not  fall  far  short 
of  ;£"2,5oo.  So,  too,  with  the  very  rare  large  oblong 
type-set  stamps  of  1856,  one  of  which — the  One 
Cent,  black  on  magenta — is  literally  unique. 

The  smaller  stamps  of  1862,  printed  from  ordinary 
type  with  a  frame  of  fancy  ornaments,  and  issued  on 
a  shortage  of  One,  Two,  and  Four  Cents  stamps, 
were  for  some  considerable  time  fairly  common, 
being  obtainable  for  a  few  shillings,  or  sometimes,  if 
one  were  fortunate,  for  pence  ;  now  a  used  set  of  the 
commonest  variety  of  each  value  costs  nearly  £^0. 

Canada  provides  a  rarity,  dating  back  to  185 1.  A 
stamp — and  it  is  a  beautiful  piece  of  work — of  the 
apparently  peculiar  value  of  Twelve  Pence  was 
issued,  but  for  some  reason  a  very  small  portion  of 
the  large  supply  was  sold,  the  remainder  disappear- 
ing without  a  trace,  never  to  be  found  even  to  this 
day :  that  stamp  is  now  worth  two  thousand  times 
its  original  cost.  The  reason  for  the  value  being 
expressed  somewhat  quaintly  was  that,  whereas 
"  One  Shilling "  was  a  fluctuating  amount  according 
to  locality,  "  Twelve  Pence "  was  the  same  every- 
where. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  it  is  the  rarities  which 
have  appreciated  the  most,  and  therefore  a  list  of  the 
stamps  which  ought  to  have  been  secured  as  an 
investment  is  practically  a  list  of  the  rare  and  scarce 
stamps. 

Beautifully  engraved,  of  chaste  design,  and  of 
quaint  shape,  the  Cape  "  triangulars  "  are,  and  always 
have    been,   favourites ;    but  they  have    been    out- 


COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT    221 

distanced,  as  regards  profitable  investment  records, 
by  the  two  roughly-executed  stamps,  of  similar  design 
and  shape,  printed  from  hurriedly  made  stereotyped 
blocks  to  meet  a  temporary  shortness  of  the  ordinary 
One  Penny  and  Fourpence. 

These  provisionals,  erroneously  called  (as  they 
always  will  be)  "  wood-blocks,"  were  issued  early  in 
1 86 1,  and  the  ordinary  specimens  are  of  considerable 
scarcity  even  used,  and  very  difficult  of  acquisition 
unpostmarked ;  much  more  then  are  the  errors, 
caused  by  the  unintentional  inclusion  in  the  group  of 
stereotypes  of  each  value  of  one  block  of  the  other 
denomination. 

These  two  stamps — the  One  Penny  in  blue,  and 
the  Four  Pence  in  red,  instead  of  vice  versd — are 
well-known  rarities  used,  and  there  are  only  three 
known  copies  in  an  unused  condition ;  one  of  these, 
obtained  by  its  owner  during  the  period  when  the 
wood-blocks  were  in  issue  at  "  face,"  realised  five-and- 
thirty  years  later  no  less  than  ;!S"SOO.  "  Prodigious," 
but  true ! 

Another  desirable  Cape  stamp  owes  its  rarity  to 
having  been  printed  in  a  small  quantity  on  a  paper 
in  use  for  a  short  time  only — the  Five  Shillings, 
orange-yellow,  of  1883,  on  paper  watermarked  with 
a  Crown  and  "  CA  ".  For  some  three  to  four  years, 
1883-87,  these  stamps  were  purchasable  unused  at 
the  post-office  ;  and  now — ;£"ioo,  perhaps. 

Cayman  Islands,  that  hotbed  of  official  speculation 
and  jobbery,  furnishes  a  more  modern  instance — 
instances  would  be  more  correct — of  sudden  and 
excessive  rise  in   price,   if  not  in  philatelic  worth ; 


222       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

certain  provisionals,  made  by  surcharging  higher 
value  stamps  to  meet  the  usual,  and  often  avoidable, 
shortage.  Fortunate,  indeed,  from  the  investors* 
point  of  view,  are  those  who,  subscribing  to  some 
"  new  issue "  service,  managed  to  obtain  even  single 
copies  of  these  scarce  labels  at  a  small  percentage 
over  face. 

Ceylon  I  The  name  raises  a  vision  of  the  gorgeous 
East,  and,  to  the  philatelist,  of  rare  imperforates, 
issued  in  the  early  days  before  Philately  was.  Who 
in  the  end  of  the  'fifties  would  have  thought  of 
investing  in,  say,  a  block  of  four  of  the  Fourpence, 
dull  rose,  and,  having  held  it  for  forty  years,  receiving 
the  handsome  return  of — what  shall  I  say  ? — £7 SO  ? 
And  yet  it  would  be  so. 

Another  Ceylon  which  has  appreciated  at  a  rapid 
rate  is  the  Two  Rupees  Fifty  Cents  issued  in  1880; 
for  long  it  was  catalogued  and  obtainable  at  7s.  6d., 
but  on  suddenly  becoming  obsolete  (through  a 
change  of  postal  rates)  its  price  began  to  rise  by 
leaps  and  bounds,  until  it  is  worth  about  twice  as 
many  shillings  as  it  formerly  was  pence. 

A  glance  at  the  catalogue  prices  of  the  first  Cyprus 
set  of  Edwardian  stamps,  which  were  printed  on 
paper  known  to  philatelists  as  "Single  Crown  CA" 
— z.e.f  one  entire  watermark  to  each  stamp — is  a  mild 
example  of  the  abnormal  rise  which  took  place  in 
nearly  all  colonial  stamps,  bearing  the  head  of  King 
Edward  and  printed  on  this  "single"  paper,  when 
the  unexpected  change  was  made  in  1904  to  a 
"  multiple  "  paper — that  is,  one  in  which  the  water- 
marks were  arranged  very  closely  together,  so  that 


COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT    223 

each  stamp  must  show  parts  of  three  or  four  of  the 
devices.  Stamps  sold  in  1902  or  1903  at  a  little  over 
their  original  cost  jumped  up  and  up  in  price  until 
they  fetched,  even  at  auction,  700  or  800  or  even 
1,000  per  cent,  over  "face":  small  fortunes  were 
made ;  but,  as  has  happened,  the  rise  was  permanent 
and  still  continues. 

The  quaint "  Fiji  Times  Express"  stamps,  produced 
by  private  enterprise,  and  which  were  the  forerunners 
of  a  most  interesting  series  of  stamps,  many  rare, 
were  issued  within  the  memory  of  many  collectors — 
One  Penny,  Three  Pence,  Six  Pence,  and  One 
Shilling — and  yet  that  set  of  four  stamps,  dating 
from  only  1870,  is  worth  five  hundred  times  "face," 
a  fair  return  even  for  a  wait  of  forty  years.  Certain 
stamps  of  a  subsequent  (1874)  issue  are  now  also 
very  scarce  ;  but  they  are  varieties  as  distinguished 
from  the  normal  printings,  and  scarcely  come  within  the 
category  of  stamps  obtainable  by  the  casual  purchaser. 

The  pretty  embossed  Gambias,  particularly  those 
printed  on  the  old  "Crown  CC"  paper,  afford  another 
instance  of  unearned  increment :  the  set  of  seven 
values  was,  say  in  1885,  to  be  bought  for  3s.  or  4s. — 
now  it  is  valued  at  about  £6. 

The  reward  of  any  far-seeing  investor  who  had 
happened  to  purchase  the  Four  Annas,  red  and  blue, 
issued  in  India  in  1854,  would  have  been  a  rich  one 
had  he  noticed  an  inversion  of  the  Queen's  head 
as  regards  its  frame — copies  of  this  rarity  are  known 
on  the  entire  original  envelope,  so  evidently  they 
were,  even  if  noticed,  regarded  merely  as  the  results 
of  carelessness.     It  would  have  been  a  (perhaps  fatal) 

12 


224       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

shock  to  any  specialist  in  Indian  stamps  who  had 
happened  to  purchase  one  of  these  rare  errors  still 
on  the  original,  to  find  that  he,  by  the  irony  of  fate, 
had  addressed  and  presumably  stamped  that  very 
envelope  thirty  or  forty  years  previously.  The  stamp 
bought  originally  for  a  few  pence  would  have  repre- 
sented to-day,  say,  ;^I30  unused,  £yo  used. 

The  purchase  of  a  few  copies  of  the  Two  Cents 
and  Twelve  Cents  of  the  first  issue  of  Labuan,  in 
1879,  some  years  before  the  advent  of  the  handsome 
"  labels,"  all  happily  now  obsolete,  would  not  have 
proved  a  matter  for  regret,  seeing  that  the  prices 
have  for  some  years  been  well  over  ;f  10  for  the  two. 

At  present,  the  current  Five  Shillings  stamps  of 
Montserrat,  Sierra  Leone,  Southern  Nigeria,  &c.,  are 
catalogued,  unused,  at  about  25  per  cent,  over  face, 
as  once  were  the  Two  Rupees  Fifty  of  Ceylon,  the 
Five  Shillings  St.  Vincent,  and  the  Five  Shillings 
Victoria,  blue  on  yellow;  without  recommending  it 
as  an  investment,  it  is  by  no  means  impossible  that 
within  twenty  years  from  now  a  Montserrat  Five 
Shillings  may  be  worth  ;^io  or  even  £1^. 

Incomparable  as  regards  romantic  interest  and 
actual  value,  the  first  two  stamps  of  Mauritius  have 
been,  ever  since  their  discovery  in  the  'sixties,  the 
desiderata  of  every  collector. 

Other  stamps — and  there  are  several — may  be 
rarer ;  but,  as  examples  of  a  genuinely  necessary 
issue,  small  in  quantity,  the  One  Penny  and  Two- 
pence "Post  Of^ce"  of  sixty-four  years  ago  will 
always  be  looked  upon  as  the  ultimate,  even  if 
seldom  attained,  goal  of  the  Philatelist. 


v-iTWO  PK  Net 


THE   king's    copy  OF  THE  TWO   PENCE 
'•  POST  OFFICE  "  MAURITIUS. 


T'<rsiACf~S    ^^^H   pPOSTAcr® 


THE  MAGNIFICENT  UNUSED  COPIES  OF  THE  ONE  PENNY 
AND  TWO  PENCE  "  POST  OFFICE  "  MAURITIUS 
STAMPS  ACQUIRED  BY  HENRY  J.  DUVEEN,  ESQ.,  OUT 
OF  THE  COLLECTION  FORMED  BY  THE  LATE  SIR 
WILLIAM  AVERY,  BART. 


225 


COLLECTING  AS   AN  INVESTMENT    227 

Originally  looked  upon  as  errors  of  engraving — 
"POST  OFFICE"  instead  of  "POST  paid"— on  the 
sheets  of  what  is  now  known  to  be  the  second  issue 
of  Mauritius,  it  was  many  years  before  they  took 
their  position  as  a  rare  and  distinct  emission ;  now 
something  under  thirty  copies  are  known,  and  their 
status  is  firmly  established. 

From  philatelic  records  we  learn  that  the  first- 
known  copies  changed  hands  for  the  merest  trifle  : 
to-day  they  are  catalogued  at  ;£"i,ooo  and  £1^200 
respectively,  in  used  condition. 

In  1894  3.  firm  of  stamp-dealers  acquired  a  well- 
known  collector's  unused  mini  copies  of  these  stamps 
at  what  would  now  be  the  very  low  price  of  ^680  : 
they  went  into  the  collection  of  the  late  Sir  William 
Avery,  and  have  now  passed  to  another  famous 
collector  at  the  record  price  of  ;£^3,500  for  the  two. 

For  romance,  however,  nothing  approaches  what 
occurred  early  in  1904.  A  collector,  visiting  a  friend 
resident  in  the  north-west  of  London,  mentioned  his 
hobby  to  his  host,  who,  remarking  that  he  once 
collected  stamps,  brought  out  his  almost- forgotten 
schoolboy  album.  Looking  casually  through  the 
old  collection,  the  guest  saw,  to  his  amazement,  what 
proved  to  be  the  finest  known  unused  copy  of  the 
Twopence  "  Post  Office,"  purchased  by  its  owner 
forty  years  previously  for  a  few  pence :  this  stamp 
was  sold  shortly  afterwards  at  auction  for  ;^i,45o, 
and  now  adorns  the  fine  collection  of  Mauritius 
stamps  owned  by  King  George  V. 

The  quaintly  designed  stamps  of  Nevis,  printed  at 
first  direct  from   line-engraved   plates,   and    subse- 


228       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

quently  from  lithographic  stones,  show  a  wonderful 
increase  in  value,  from  a  few  shillings  each  in  1880 
to  three  or  four  times  the  same  number  of  pounds  at 
the  present  time  ;  then,  the  stamps  were  only  just 
obsolete,  and  most  collectors  were  satisfied  with  one 
or  two  single  copies  ;  now,  the  demand  is  for  entire 
sheets  of  twelve  varieties,  or,  failing  these,  from  the 
not  very  large  supplies  printed,  for  plates  "  made  up  " 
from  singles,  pairs,  and  blocks,  arranged  in  their 
respective  proper  places. 

The  handsome  "  pence "  issue  of  New  Brunswick, 
some  of  the  similar  stamps  of  Newfoundland,  and  the 
first  emission  of  Nova  Scotia,  all  supplied  by  Messrs. 
Perkins,  Bacon  &  Co.,  those  unrivalled  producers  of 
postage-stamps,  were,  within  the  memory  of  many 
collectors,  obtainable  at  very  low  figures  ;  now  many 
of  the  values,  notably  the  One  Shilling,  realise, 
especially  when  "  mint,"  very  high  prices  indeed. 
As  an  instance,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  a  young 
collector  of  thirty  years  ago,  submitting  his  stamps 
to  a  well-known  expert,  had  a  nice  unused  copy  of 
the  One  Shilling  Nova  Scotia  valued  at  25s.,  the 
present  valuation  of  which  would  be  £ss- 

It  is  related,  on  excellent  authority,  that,  long  ago, 
a  dealer,  learning  that  there  was  a  small  stock  of 
these  One  Shilling  stamps  at  one  of  the  Nova  Scotia 
post-offices,  forwarded  a  remittance  to  secure  them : 
he  was  successful  in  his  desire,  du^  the  postmaster 
had  applied  to  each  stamp  a  fine  impression  of  the 
local  obliterator,  possibly  as  a  concession  to  the 
then  collector's  presumed  preference  for  postmarked 
copies. 


COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT    229 

"  Sydney  Views,"  as  the  stamps  of  the  first  (1850) 
issue  of  New  South  Wales  have  been,  and  probably 
always  will  be,  known  to  philatelists,  afford  another 
instance  of  unearned  increment. 

Far  back  in  the  'sixties,  the  period  of  unappreci- 
ated but  now  regretted  opportunities  for  wonderful 
bargains,  "  Sydney  Views  "  were  a  few  pence  a  dozen 
used,  and  about  £1  a  copy  if  unused — whether  singles, 
strips,  or  blocks  did  not  matter  then ;  now,  post- 
marked copies  are  worth  several  times  the  old 
price  of  unused  specimens  ;  and  for  the  unused, 
from  £2$  to  ;^50,  according  to  condition  and  absence 
or  presence  of  the  original  gum,  is  not  unreasonable. 
And  yet,  despite  this  enormous  increase  in  value,  at 
a  recent  meeting  of  the  Royal  Philatelic  Society  a 
total  of  2,363  of  these  now  scarce  stamps  were  pro- 
duced from  the  collections  of  fourteen  members  for 
purposes  of  study. 

Other  stamps  there  are  of  New  South  Wales, 
showing  a  great  increase  in  value  during  recent 
times,  but  none  to  compare  in  interest  or  demand 
with  the  famous  "  Sydney  Views." 

New  Zealand  has  issued  many  stamps,  even  in 
fairly  modern  times,  which  have  greatly  appre- 
ciated :  a  famous  collector,  who  has  recently 
parted  with  most  of  his  treasures,  had  sent  him 
years  ago  a  quantity  of  stamps  at  one  penny  each — 
one  of  them,  on  an  examination  some  time  after- 
wards, turned  out  to  be  the  rare  perforated  One 
Penny,  brown,  of  1872,  watermarked  "NZ",  and 
now  worth  some  £'^0  used. 

Of      provisional      issues,    limited      in     quantity, 


230       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE   STAMPS 

ephemeral  of  use,  and  the  prey  of  speculators, 
there  are  many  instances ;  but,  though  the  rise 
in  value,  from  the  original  cost  at  the  post-office, 
is  often  sharp,  such  stamps  can  hardly  be  looked 
upon  as  investments  one  has  missed,  because  they 
were  never  obtainable  by  the  public  at  large,  as 
were  the  great  majority  of  stamps  now  rare  and 
much  sought  after. 

An  instance  of  this  limited  and  speculative 
creation  of  so-called  "  provisionals "  occurred  in 
the  Niger  Coast  Protectorate,  at  the  end  of  1893, 
when  a  very  few  copies  of  the  current  One  Shilling 
were  surcharged  "  20/-,"  one  or  two  {literally)  in 
one  colour,  three  or  four  in  another,  and  so  on. 
Possibly  these  proved  to  be  good  speculations, 
but  they  were  not  investments  open  to  the  man- 
in-the-street,  gifted  with  the  most  prophetic  of 
philatelic  spirits. 

In  1 88 1,  a  bond  fide  shortage  of  the  Fourpence 
stamps  occurred  in  St.  Vincent,  and  a  small 
quantity  of  the  current  One  Shilling  was  over- 
printed "4d":  for  some  time  the  quotation  for 
unused  copies  was  about  thirty  shillings,  but  now 
the  price  is  nearer  ;^20.  Other  provisionals  were 
issued  in  St.  Vincent  about  this  time,  and  most  of 
them  have  similarly  appreciated  in  value ;  but 
collectors  little  realised,  even  in  1881,  that  what 
was  then  considered  a  full  price — and  grumbled 
at  as  such — would  ever  attain  to  its  present  day 
dimensions.  The  very  handsome  Five  Shillings 
stamp  was  priced  five-and-twenty  years  ago  at 
7s.  6d. :    now  it  costs  about  £1^ 


COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT    231 

Sierra  Leone  afforded  an  instance,  in  1897,  by 
issuing  Twopence  Halfpenny  provisionals,  made 
by  surcharging  certain  fiscal  stamps  of  the  value 
of  Three  Pence,  Six  Pence,  One  Shilling  and  Two 
Shillings :  only  fourteen  years  ago,  and  yet  a 
sheet  of  thirty  of  the  "  2jd."  on  Sixpence,  costing 
6s.  3d.,  is  now  catalogued  at  nearly  £g^  whilst  the 
set  of  five  varieties  surcharged  on  the  Two  Shillings 
stamp,  originally  costing  is.  ojd.,  is  now  worth  £y:>. 

The  great  rarity  of  South  Australia  is  the 
Fourpence,  specially  printed  in  blue  in  1870-71, 
to  be  surcharged  "  3-PENCE ",  but  from  a  sheet  (or 
possibly  part  of  a  sheet)  of  which  the  new  value 
was  accidentally  omitted.  Very  few  copies  are 
known,  and  all  but  two  are  used  :  the  two  being 
in  a  "  pair." 

The  first  issue  of  Tasmania,  then  known  as 
"  Van  Diemen's  Land,"  affords  an  instance  of  a 
substantial  rise  during  the  last  thirty  years  ;  but, 
although  substantial,  it  is  not  abnormal.  The 
Fourpence,  blue,  of  1870-71,  would  have  proved  a 
satisfactory  investment  to  the  purchaser  of  a  moderate 
quantity  at  its  original  cost,  for  it  is  now  catalogued 
at  £^. 

Owing  to  the  greater  part  of  the  stock  of  the 
Sixpence,  stone,  1884,  of  Tobago,  with  watermark 
of  Crown  "  CA",  having  been  used  for  a  provisional 
surcharged  Halfpenny,  that  stamp  rose  from  its 
first  catalogue  price  of  about  is.  3d.  to  its  present 
value  of  £'j  los.  No  dealer  seems  to  have  obtained 
more  than  a  small  supply  of  this  Sixpence,  and 
the    subsequent    consignments    from     London     to 


232       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Tobago  were  printed  in  a  totally  different  colour, 
orange-brown. 

Practically  all  the  stamps  of  the  Transvaal  have 
greatly  appreciated,  and  large  sums  have  been 
made  by  the  fortunate  holders  of  stock  acquired 
at  the  old  1882  figures.  In  an  old,  but  well- 
known  catalogue,  thirty-five  stamps  are  priced  in 
unused  state,  varying  from  3d.  to  los.,  the  latter 
being  for  a  One  Penny  in  red,  on  Sixpence,  black, 
of  May,  1879:  and  sixty- four  used,  ranging  from 
6d.  to  7s.  6d.,  and  including  amongst  the  inter- 
mediate prices  those  of  four  of  the  May,  1879, 
provisionals.  A  glance  at  Gibbons  will  show,  even 
taking  the  commonest  varieties,  a  great  rise  all 
round,  sufficient  even  to  satisfy  a  greedy  investor. 
Of  minor  Transvaal  varieties  there  are  many,  and 
several  of  these  show  an  abnormal  rise  in  price : 
on  the  other  hand,  some  have  appreciated  very 
little.  How,  therefore,  is  the  would-be  speculator- 
investor  to  know  what  to  take? 

In  the  old  catalogue  above  referred  to,  some  of 
the  1 88 1  Turks'  Islands  provisionals  are  priced 
from  6d.  to  2s.  each  unused — presumably  the 
commonest  varieties :  now  these  stamps  vary  from 
1 25.  to  £s  for  the  "J",  from  £^  to  ;^30  for  the 
"2j",  and  from  30s.  to  £7  for  the  "4".  The  One 
Shilling,  lilac,  of  1873-79,  largely  used  for  the 
above  provisionals,  has  increased  some  twelve-fold 
in  value  since  1882. 

If  the  reverend  gentleman  who,  by  the  help  of 
a  typewriter,  evolved  the  earliest  of  the  1895 
issues   of  Uganda,  had  only  a  few  remainders   on 


COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT    233 

hand,  he  should  reap  a  handsome  return  for  his 
original  outlay  of  two  or  three  hundred  cowries  : 
but  most  probably  he  did  not  keep  any,  conse- 
quently the  stamps  are,  and  will  remain,  scarce 
and  expensive. 

The  Five  Shillings,  Victoria,  blue  on  yellow,  is 
a  striking  stamp,  and  its  present  value  is  somewhere 
about  £i^  unused  :  a  very  famous  collection  contains 
several  mint  copies,  which  the  owner  once  remarked 
were  "  Not  bad  at  7s.  6d.  each." 

Mr.  Stanley  Gibbons's  well-known  half-sheet 
of  the  Twopence,  Western  Australia,  printed  in 
1879,  in  mauve,  the  colour  of  the  Sixpence,  affords 
a  fitting  close  to  this  cursory  list  of  good  invest- 
ments in  British  Colonies :  acquired  at  6d.  each, 
the  price  to  the  collector  was  5  s.,  then  raised  to 
£2,  and  now  it  stands  at  over  ;f  20. 

Space  precludes  a  similarly  long  list  of  foreign 
stamps  which  have  greatly  appreciated ;  but  the 
following  examples,  with  early  prices  (as  indicated) 
and  those  at  present  asked,  may  be  interesting, 
showing  the  rises  in  many  of  the  medium  stamps : — 

Egypt — 1st  issue,  set,  6s.  3d.  (in  1882),  now 
£6  2s.  6d. 

Oldenburg — ist  issue,  ^q  thaler,  is.  (in  1882), 
now  £2. 

Oldenburg — 1859-61  issues  (in  1882),  from  9d. 
each  ;  now  4s.  is  the  lowest,  I2s.  the  next,  and  the 
highest  ;^ii. 

Schleswig-Holstein — the  pretty  little  stamps  of 
1850  were  (in  1882)  9d.  and  is.  6d.  each:  they 
have  now  risen  to  28s.  and  50s. 


234       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Holland — ist  issue,  Qd.,  6d.,  and  is.  respectively 
for  the  three  values,  unused  :  now  15s.,  20s.,  and  30s. 

Of  the  following,  most,  if  purchased  twenty  years 
ago,  would  now  show  a  very  handsome  profit,  even 
after  allowing  5  per  cent,  compound  interest. 

The  Swiss  Cantonals,  first  issue  Roumania  (Mol- 
davia), tete-beche  pairs  of  France,  inverted  U.S.A., 
Paris  prints  of  Greece,  early  Uruguays,  some  Brazils, 
early  Japans,  middle-period  Hawaiian  Islands,  Italian 
States,  early  Spain  and  Colonies,  first  Samoas,  first 
Shanghais,  &c. 

Concerning  the  inverted  U.S.A.,  it  is  said — though 
these  stories  are  often  more  interesting  than  true — 
that  a  purchaser  of  a  quantity  of  one  of  these  errors 
took  them  back  to  the  post-office  and  had  them 
exchanged  for  normally  printed  stamps.  If  true, 
the  present  feelings  of  the  purchaser  (if  he  survives) 
on  being  reminded  of  his  neglected  opportunity 
would  be  interesting. 

Instances  might  be  multiplied  almost  indefinitely 
by  comparing  the  prices  in  old  and  present  catalogues, 
but  the  instances  given  are  sufficient  to  show  the 
great  profits  which  might  have  been  made  by  the 
judicious  investment  of  small  amounts  in  the  proper 
stamps :  large  amounts  would  probably  lower  prices. 

A  purchase  in  1882  of  twenty  £1  "Anchor"  would 
not  lower  the  market  if  now  offered  for  sale,  but 
;£"500  worth  would  probably  result  in  a  slump. 

However,  it  is  generally  a  case  of  Hinc  illce  lacrymce^ 
for  the  would-be  traveller  on  the  royal  road  to  ease 
and  great  wealth  has  either  never  invested  at  all  or 
has  selected  stamps  which  show  a  marked  deprecia- 


COLLECTING  AS  AN  INVESTMENT    235 

tion  as  the  years  roll  on — e.g.y  the  Fourpence  Half- 
penny of  Great  Britain,  which  was  going  to  rise 
abnormally,  but  which  has  been  "unloaded"  at,  or 
even  under,  "  face."  Only  a  trifling  instance,  but  it 
serves  to  show  the  risks  of  investment  in  stamps 
when  current  or  just  obsolete ;  it  is  safer  to  buy 
those  which  have  during  a  period  of  some  years 
shown  an  inclination  to  rise  steadily — but  then 
investors  and  speculators  are  generally  impatient 
and  won't  wait. 

During  the  late  South  African  War,  there  was  an 
excessive  speculation  by  the  uninitiated  among  the 
soldiers  and  the  populace  in  the  provisional  stamps 
overprinted  "V.R.I."  and  "  E.R.I." ;  thousands  ap- 
peared to  think  that  a  few  pounds  invested  during 
the  war  would  enable  them  to  retire  on  reaching  the 
Strand  with  their  booty.  They  all  bought  to  sell, 
and  genuine  collectors,  finding  the  supply  so  exces- 
sive, have  only  required  a  little  patience  to  benefit 
their  pockets  by  acquiring  at  "  greatly  reduced  prices," 
much  under  "  face,"  from  the  would-be  get-rich-quicks 
who  wouldn't  or  couldn't  wait.  As  a  rule,  however, 
it  is  the  early  bird  who  catches  the  worm,  and  only 
at  such  rare  seasons  of  extraordinary  national  excite- 
ment are  excessive  booms  possible ;  and  the  early 
bird  must  have  some  solid  ground  of  knowledge  and 
intelligence  to  guide  him  to  the  worm. 


vra 

FORGERIES, 
FAKES,  AND 
FANCIES 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FORGERIES,  FAKES,  AND  FANCIES 

Early  counterfeits  and  their  exposers — The  "  honest "  facsimile — 
** Album  Weeds" — Forgeries  classified — Frauds  on  the  British 
Post  Office — Forgeries  "paying"  postage — The  One  Rupee,  India 
— Fraudulent  alteration  of  values — The  British  los.  and  £l 
''Anchor " — A  too-clever  "fake" — Joined  pairs — Drastic  tests — 
New  South  Wales  "Views"  and  "  Registered  "—The  Swiss 
Cantonals — Government  "imitations" — "Bogus"  stamps. 

Mr.  Edward  L.  Pemberton,  whose  early  writings 
on  Philately  will  always  be  regarded  as  little  short  of 
inspired  from  the  marvellous  intuition  which  led  him 
to  the  precise  and  the  accurate,  wrote  a  booklet  on 
"  Forged  Stamps,  and  How  to  Detect  Them  "  in  1863. 
Already  in  the  history  of  this  new  hobby  the  forger 
had  been  at  work  catering  for  collectors ;  it  was,  of 
course,  from  still  earlier  times  that  the  unscrupulous 
had  endeavoured  to  relieve  Governments  of  some 
portions  of  their  revenues  by  counterfeiting  what  is 
a  kind  of  paper  currency.  Pemberton  was  not  the 
first  author  on  this  subject,  but  I  turn  to  him  because 
he  was  the  best  of  several  contemporary  writers  in 
this  as  well  as  in  other  directions.  Of  this  superiority 
he  was  not  entirely  unconscious,  for  in  his  "  Introduc- 


240       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

tion "  he  says :  "  We  have  tested  the  usefulness  of 
the  only  English  work  on  the  '  Falsification  of  Postage 
Stamps,'  having  gone  through  it  carefully,  and  after 
an  impartial  reading,  feel  convinced  that,  from  the 
vagueness  of  the  descriptions,  both  of  the  forgeries 
and  genuine  stamps,  many  persons  testing  stamps 
from  them  would  select  the  forgery  as  genuine,  and 
vice  versd." 

To  satisfy  (in  some  measure)  the  curiosity  of  his 
readers,  our  early  authority  gives  some  particulars 
of  the  forgers.  The  "first  and  foremost"  in  the 
nefarious  practice  was  a  Zurich  forger,  whose  pro- 
ductions— Swiss  Cantonals,  Modena,  Romagna,  &c. 
— had  the  largest  circulation  in  Mr.  Pemberton's 
time.  This  gentleman  (evidently  well  known  to  the 
author)  had  an  agent  for  the  sale  of  his  wares  at 
Basle,  the  prices  of  these  latter  being  quoted  at  "  for 
most  of  the  Swiss  80  cts.  each  used,  or  unused 
I  franc ;  for  the  Orts  Post  and  Poste  Locale  50  cts. 
each  ;  for  Modena  and  Romagna  80  cts." 

The  dealer  who  occupied  the  second  position  of 
dishonour  in  the  estimation  of  this  philatelic  Sherlock 
Holmes  was  a  Brussels  individual,  whose  provisional 
Parma,  Modena,  Naples,  and  Spain  sold  largely  and 
were  well  executed. 

These  two  appear  to  have  been  the  leaders  of  the 
counterfeiting  of  their  time,  "  those  indeed  who  have 
made  almost  a  trade  of  it " ;  but  there  was  also  a 
Brunswick  dealer  who  "  tried  his  hand  at  the  Danish 
essays,"  and  a  few  forged  stamps  were  supposed  to 
hail  from  Leipsic. 

A  couple  of  years  later  John  Marmaduke  Stourton, 


FORGERIES,  FAKES,  AND  FANCIES    241 

in   a   brochure   "  How  to   Detect   Forged   Stamps," 
gives  evidence  of  a  swarm  of  forgers  cropping  up  in 
even  our  own  country  at  Glasgow,  Manchester,  New- 
castle, and  London,  in  Hamburg  and  New  York,  as 
well  as  the  Swiss  and  Belgian  forgers  who  still  plied 
their  traffic.     The  Glasgow  productions  were  of  the 
"  facsimile "   class,  and  were   possibly  manufactured 
with  the  well-intentioned  but  unwise  endeavour  to 
provide  approximately  correct  coloured  facsimiles  of 
stamps  which  were  too  scarce  to  be  readily  accessible 
to   all   collectors.      The   "facsimile"   has   no   doubt 
often  been  produced  with  the  best  of  intentions  by 
firms  of  high  repute,  but  the  protecting  word  "  fac- 
simile "  or  "  Falsch,"  or  other  sign  by  which  the  true 
nature  of  the  copy  may  be  identified,  has  so  often 
been  removed  for  fraudulent  purposes  after  it  has 
left  honest  hands  that  there  is  no  alternative  in  these 
days  of  later  and  fuller  experience  to  define  "fac- 
simile," so  far  as  it  relates  to  Philately,  as,  in  the 
words  of  my  glossary,  "  a  euphemism  for  a  forgery." 
It  is,  however,  to  be  borne  in  mind  by  the  student 
that   in  the   beginning  of  Philately  there  was   not 
entirely  the  same  attitude  towards  the  production  of 
legitimate  (if  any  could  so  be  called)  or  honest  fac- 
similes, and,  indeed,  a  writer   in   one   of  the   early 
journals,  in  proposing  the  formation  of  a  philatelic 
society,   suggests   that   one   of  the   duties   such   an 
institution  could  properly  fulfil  would  be  the  repro- 
duction of  choice  editions  (copies)  of  rare  stamps  for 
limited  circulation !     Also   in   the   Stamp   Collectof^s 
Magazine^  whose  proprietors  and  engravers  were  as 
free  of  just  reproach  as  Caesar's  wife,  we  find   the 

13 


242       CHATS   ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

engraver  so  pleased  with  the  illustration  he  has  pro- 
duced for  that  jotirnal  of  the  Nicaragua  stamp  of 
1862  that  he  announces: — 

"  NiCARAGUAN  STAMP.— Will  be  ready  in  a  week. 
A  beautiful  proof  of  the  Nicaraguan  Stamp  (equal 
to  the  original)  will  be  sent  for  13  postage-stamps. 
Only  75  proofs  of  this  will  be  taken  ;  each  proof  will 
be  numbered,  and  then  the  block  burnt.  An  early 
application  is  really  necessary,  25  copies  being  already 
sold.     Address  .  .  ." 

These  "  proofs,"  rarer,  no  doubt,  than  the  originals, 
were  endorsed  editorially,  and  collectors  unable  to 
procure  the  original  stamp  were  told  they  "  would  do 
well  to  provide  themselves  with  one  of  these  fac- 
similes." The  astute  Mr.  Pemberton,  however,  took 
a  very  different  view.  "  Although  he  tells  every  one 
that  they  are  merely  facsimiles  and  not  the  real 
stamps,  we  cannot  but  help  thinking  that  he  is  acting 
wrongly;  for  less  scrupulous  dealers  than  himself 
will  sell  them  as  genuine.  .  .  .  Again,  these  imita- 
tions are  by  far  the  best  executed  of  any  we  have 
seen.  The  regularly  forged  stamps  are  wretched  in 
comparison  with  these,  and  therefore  all  the  more 
caution  will  be  required  to  detect  them."  So  he 
proceeds  to  a  detailed  description  of  the  small 
differences  existing  between  genuine  and  imitation. 

There  is  no  royal  road  by  which  the  collector 
can  attain  to  the  accurate  and  ready  discrimina- 
tion between  the  right  and  the  wrong  copies  of 
stamps.     Forgeries  have  multiplied  enormously  be- 


FORGERIES,  FAKES,  AND  FANCIES    243 

tween  1863  and  191 1,  so  that  now  the  standard 
handbook  by  the  Rev.  R.  B.  Earee  is  a  master- 
piece of  detail  entitled  "  Album  Weeds,"  occupying 
two  large  volumes  containing  nearly  1,300  pages  of 
text.  It  would  be  idle  to  pretend  that  even  the 
expert  has  every  description  contained  therein  "at 
his  fingers'  ends."  Yet  the  expert  is  rarely  deceived 
in  a  stamp,  even  when  he  has  not  access  at  the 
time  to  Mr.  Earde's  work  or  other  references.  I 
remember  an  early  instruction,  the  only  one  that 
covers  the  subject,  but  I  forget  whence  it  comes. 
It  was  that  if  you  study  your  stamps  an  imper- 
ceptible sense  will  come  to  you  that  will  enable 
you  at  once  to  acclaim  the  true  and  to  suspect 
if  not  denounce  the  false. 

Beyond  this  I  can  only  advise  the  reader  that, 
as  a  complete  novice,  he  would  be  unwise  to 
purchase  costly  rarities  and  valuable  stamps  from 
unknown  and  irresponsible  persons.  The  novice 
will  remain  a  novice  in  these  matters,  unless  he 
acquires  some  knowledge  of  the  differences  (generally 
readily  distinguishable)  between  a  stamp  that  is  from 
an  engraved  plate  and  a  forgery  that  is,  say,  litho- 
graphed or  from  a  wood-cut.  It  is  important  to 
remember  also — at  least  for  the  new  collector — 
that  strange  though  it  may  seem  to  him,  stamps 
really  do  fetch  what  they  are  considered  to  be 
worth  by  collectors  and  dealers  of  experience,  and 
that  if  rare  stamps  are  offered  much  below  the 
current  quotation  by  individuals  supposed  to  know 
their  true  worth,  it  may  often  be,  and  generally 
is,    that   the  wares   they  have    for  sale  are  either 


244       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

forgeries  or  carefully  mended  copies  of  damaged 
originals. 

There  is  little  danger  of  the  collector  being 
much  at  the  mercy  of  the  forger  if  his  transac- 
tions are  confined  to  the  reputable  dealers,  for  these 
latter  have  done  more  to  purify  the  honest  trade 
in  stamps  than  can,  I  think,  be  said  of  the  dealers 
in  the  objects  of  other  forms  of  collecting.  They 
have  expert  knowledge  on  their  staff,  and  access 
to  highly  specialised  opinions  and  advice  in  the 
various  branches  of  the  subject. 

Personally,  I  do  not  consider  the  forgery  question 
nearly  so  serious  an  obstacle  in  Philately  as  in 
other  crafts.  Most  active  stamp-collectors  are  com- 
panionable with  other  students  of  the  same  subject, 
and  there  would  be  little  opportunity  for  an 
Affaire  Vrain-Lucas^  in  which  during  a  period  of 
several  years  a  French  autograph  collector  accumu- 
lated 27,000  autographs  for  about  ;£"6,ooo,  mostly 
forgeries,  and  all  from  the  same  source,  or  for  such 
a  string  of  incidents  as  was  exposed  in  the  recent 
china  case  in  Great  Britain. 

Forgeries  of  stamps  are  made  either  for  the 
purpose  of  defrauding  the  Government  or  else  for 
rifling  the  pockets  of  the  stamp  collector ;  these 
may  be  classed  in  two  groups:  (i)  where  a  stamp 
is  a  forgery  either  in  its  entirety  or  in  some  added, 
as  distinguished  from  "  altered,"  material  detail ; 
and  (2)  where  a  genuine  stamp  is  so  altered  as 
to  apparently  convert  it  into  some  other  stamp. 
The  first  group  are  generally  covered  in  the  term 
"  forgeries,"  the  second  being  specially  distinguished 


A  GENUINE  "PLATE  6. 


THE  FAMOUS  "STOCK  EXCHANGE"  FORGERY  OF  THE  ONE  SHILLING  GREEN  STAMP  OF  ( 

BRITAIN. 

One  specimen  was  used  on  October  31,  1872,  and  the  other  on  June  13  of  the  next  year 
enlargements  betray  trifling  differences  in  the  details  of  the  design  as  cornpared  w 
genuine  stamp  above. 

845 


FORGERIES,  FAKES,   AND  FANCIES    247 

as  "  fakes."  There  is  another  class  dubbed  "  bogus," 
or  sometimes  more  elegantly  timbres  de  fantasia^ 
which  comprises  labels  which  are  a  pure  invention, 
and  never  had  any  genuine  existence  at  all. 

The  first  attack  on  the  Post  Office  revenue  of 
which  there  is  any  record  is  the  subject  of  a  letter 
from  Downing  Street,  London,  dated  September 
2,  1840,  and  addressed  to  the  late  Sir  (then  Mr.) 
Rowland  Hill : — "  Mr.  Smith  has  just  called  and 
informed  me  that  a  forgery  of  the  Penny  Label 
was  yesterday  detected  in  his  office.  The  letter 
bearing  the  forged  stamp  has  been  handed  over 
to  the  Stamp  Office  to  be  dealt  with  by  them  .  .  . 
the  forged  stamp  is  a  wood-cut.  .  .  ."  An  entry 
a  few  days  later  in  Mr.  Hill's  diary  reads : — 
"  At  the  Stamp  Office  I  saw  the  forged  label. 
It  is  a  miserable  thing  and  could  not  possibly 
deceive  any  except  the  most  stupid  and  ignorant." 

The  above  seems  to  have  been  an  almost 
isolated  attempt  to  defraud  the  revenue,  but  it  is 
interesting  as  being  the  earliest  known  forgery, 
appearing,  as  it  did,  within  four  months  of  the  issue 
of  the  first  postage-stamp. 

A  far  more  romantic  forgery,  and  one  of  almost 
colossal  magnitude,  was  discovered  in  1898.  About 
that  time,  a  large  quantity  of  British  One  Shilling 
stamps — those  of  the  1865  type  in  green,  with 
large  uncoloured  letters  in  the  corners — came  on 
the  market,  though,  as  they  had  been  used  on 
telegram  forms,  they  ought  to  have  been  destroyed : 
probably  the  guilty  parties  relied  on  this  official 
practice,  not  always    honoured    in    observance,    as 


248       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

offering  a  security  against  not  merely  the  tracing 
of  the  offence  but  the  discovering  of  the  fraud 
itself. 

Anyhow,  after  a  lapse  of  twenty-six  years,  it  was 
found  that  amongst  these  one  shilling  stamps  there 
was  a  large  proportion  of  forgeries  (purporting  to 
be  from  plate  5),  all  used  on  July  23,  1872, 
at  the  Stock  Exchange  Telegraph  Office,  London, 
E.G.  More  recent  discoveries  show  that  the  fraud 
was  continued  for  over  twelve  months,^  and,  as 
an  indication  of  the  precautions  taken  by  the 
forgers,  plate  6  (which  came  into  use  in  March, 
1872)  was  duly  imitated,  although  the  change  of 
the  small  figures  was  a  detail  probably  never 
noticed  by  members  of  the  general  public. 

According  to  calculations,  based  on  the  average 
numbers  used  on  several  days,  the  Post  Office 
must  have  lost  about  ;^50  a  day  during  the  period 
mentioned  above.  Who  were  the  originators  and 
perpetrators  of  the  fraud  will  probably  never 
be  known :  poss^'bly  a  stock-broker's  clerk  (or  a 
small  "  syndicate "  of  those  gentlemen),  or,  more 
probably,  a  clerk  in  the  Post  Office  itself  It 
was  an  ingenious  fraud,  well  planned  and  cleverly 
carried  out  at  a  minimum  of  risk,  and,  but  for 
the  market  for  old  stamps,  it  would  never  have 
been  discovered. 

Amongst   foreign   countries,  Spain  has   been   the 

greatest  sufferer  from  forgery:   her   numerous,  and 

until  recent  times  almost  yearly,  issues  were  mainly 

necessitated  by  the  circulation  of  counterfeits,  which 

*  See  Thi  Postage  Stamps  vi.  153. 


FOEGEEIES,  FAKES,  AND  FANCIES    249 

appeared  on  letters  within  a  very  short  time  after 
each  new  series  of  stamps  had  been  put  on  sale. 

Some  of  the  old  Italian  States,  particularly 
Naples  and  the  Neapolitan  Provinces,  were  defrauded 
of  part  of  their  revenue  by  numerous  forgeries  of 
some  of  their  stamps ;  and  in  these  cases,  as  in 
that  of  Spain,  letters  survive  on  which  the  postage 
has  been  entirely,  or  in  part,  "  paid "  by  means 
of  counterfeits. 

An  ingenious  fraud  on  the  Indian  Post  Office 
was  discovered  in  1890,  through  the  care  with 
which  collectors  frequently  examine  their  stamps. 
The  One  Rupee,  slate,  of  the  1882-88  issue,  very 
cleverly  imitated,  was  found  to  be  frequently 
coming  to  this  country  on  letters  from  Bombay, 
and  police  inquiries,  made  on  the  information  of 
a  well-known  philatelist,  led  to  the  detection  of  the 
culprit ;  he,  it  seems,  engraved  a  facsimile  on  box- 
wood, and  printed  his  stamps,  one  by  one,  on 
paper  as  similar  as  possible  to  the  genuine,  but 
without  watermark  ;  the  perforation  he  effected  by 
placing  the  printed  label  between  two  plates  of 
thin  metal  each  with  holes  corresponding  to  the 
intended  perforations,  and  then,  by  the  aid  of  a 
blunt  wire,  punching  out  the  small  circular  pieces 
of  paper ! 

Other  instances  have  been  noted,  but  those 
given  are  the  best  known,  and  serve  as  good 
examples  of  frauds  against  Post  Offices,  so  far  as 
forgery  of  the  entire  stamp  is  concerned ;  but,  of 
recent  years,  a  new  kind  of  fraud  has  come  into 
vogue — the  alteration  of  a  genuine  stamp  into  one 


250       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

of  a  much  higher  denomination,  affecting  British 
Colonies  only. 

The  possibility  of  this  has  resulted  from  the 
desire  of  the  authorities  to  print  the  majority  of 
colonial  stamps,  available  for  postal  or  fiscal 
purposes,  in  two  colours — one  being  distinctive  of 
the  particular  value,  and  the  other  a  purple  or 
green,  very  susceptible  to  any  attempt  to  remove 
an  obliteration  or  cancellation,  whether  by  the 
Post  Office  or  by  a  member  of  the  public  :  by  the 
latter,  in  writing-ink. 

The  modus  operandi  is  ingenious — a  stamp  is 
selected,  of  which  nearly  the  whole  design  is,  say, 
in  green,  the  name  and  (low)  value  being  in  some 
distinctive  colour ;  the  original  value  and  name 
are  removed  by  chemical  means,  the  name  and 
new  (high)  value  being  substituted  in  a  colour 
applicable  to  the  higher  denomination — ^result,  if 
the  work  be  carefully  done,  a  stamp  which  would 
deceive  not  only  the  ordinary  official  (who  is 
seldom  of  real  philatelic  inclinations)  but  even,  at 
first  glance,  the  average  collector,  unless  he  is  on 
the  look-out  for  such  "  fakes,"  which,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  have  been  made  for  his  delectation  also. 

As  has  been  remarked,  the  number  of  forgeries 
made  to  deceive  collectors  has  been  immeasurably 
greater  than  of  those  prepared  for  defrauding  the 
Revenue ;  and  it  has  been  endeavoured  to  select 
some  of  the  most  daring,  and  often  successful, 
attempts  to  palm  off  a  clever  forgery  as  a  genuine 
— generally  rare,  but  sometimes  quite  common — 
postage-stamp. 


FORGERIES,   FAKES,   AND  FANCIES    251 

In  1903,  taking  our  own  country  first,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  place  on  the  market  unused  copies 
of  the  rare  Ten  Shillings  and  One  Pound  stamps 
of  1878-83,  printed  on  Large  Anchor  paper,  and 
perforated  14 :  these  were  almost  at  once  discovered 
by  Mr.  Nissen,  the  same  philatelist  who  first 
noticed  the  One  Shilling  (plate  5)  counterfeits  used 
at  the  Stock  Exchange  Post  Office,  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly clever  forgeries.  They  were,  save  for  a 
slight  lack  of  finish  in  the  finer  details,  practically 
of  design  identical  with  that  of  the  original  stamps ; 
the  colours  were  well  matched,  and,  most  deceptive 
of  all,  the  paper  and  perforation  were  undoubtedly 
genuine.  This  timely  discovery  nipped  the  forgers' 
schemes  in  the  bud,  but,  some  eight  years  subse- 
quently, the  lower  of  these  two  forged  stamps 
came  agam  on  the  market,  this  time  provided  with 
a  neat,  though  fraudulent,  postmark. 

So  far  as  can  be  judged  from  the  examination 
of  specimens  of  this  forgery,  the  paper  used  was 
that  on  which  were  printed  certain  "  Inland 
Revenue "  stamps  —  probably  the  Threepence, 
which  alone  was  watermarked  and  perforated  as 
were  the  two  stamps  imitated  ;  but  possibly  other 
fiscals  also  were  used — the  colour  being  chemically 
removed,  leaving  a  blank  piece  of  paper,  properly 
and  genuinely  watermarked  and  perforated,  all 
ready  to  receive  the  fraudulent  imitation.  An 
undoubtedly  clever,  but  almost  unsuccessful,  fraud 
on  collectors ;  though  rumour  has  it  that  a  well- 
known  philatelist,  usually  credited  with  capability 
to  protect  himself,  was  a  victim  for  a  substantial 
sum,  as  the  price  of  an  unused  "  Pound  Anchor "  1 


252       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

A  recently  attempted  fraud — this  time  of  the 
kind  known  as  a  "  fake " — has  been,  it  is  hoped, 
successfully  exposed.  As  is  well  known,  especially 
to  collectors  of  British  stamps,  the  first  Twopence 
Halfpenny  stamp,  issued  in  1875,  shows  an  error 
of  corner-lettering  on  plate  2 :  the  twelfth  and  last 
stamp  in  the  eighth  horizontal  row  should  have 
been  lettered  "  L.H- — H.L."  but,  through  want  of 
care,  actually  bore  the  letters  "  L.H. — F.L."  This 
error,  especially  in  unused  condition,  is  scarce,  and 
the  faker  has  naturally  made  an  effort  to  supply 
the  deficiency. 

Obviously,  the  easiest  way  to  manufacture  this 
error  is  to  select  a  stamp  from  plate  2  with  the 
lettering  of  "  L.F. — F.L."  (the  last  stamp  in  the 
sixth  row),  and  alter  the  first  "F"  into  "H",  with 
hope  of  probable  success  because  the  collector's 
criticism  would  naturally  (if  wrongly)  be  concen- 
trated on  the  incorrect  letter  in  the  lower  left-hand 
corner.  Unfortunately  for  the  "fake,"  which  was 
very  well  executed,  its  creator,  wishing  no  doubt 
to  enhance  its  value,  had  left  the  "error"  in  pair 
with  the  eleventh  stamp  in  the  same  row:  result, 
a  very  nice  pair  from  the  sixth  row,  lettered 
*' K.F.— F.K.",  "  LH.—F.L.",  showing  (as  a  con- 
sequence of  being  in  pair)  a  mistake — "  H  "  for  "  F  " 
in  the  upper  right-hand  corner.  This,  of  course, 
condemned  the  error  at  once,  but  the  example 
serves  to  show  how  very  careful  one  must  be,  and 
how  necessary  it  is  to  examine  and  consider  every 
circumstance  in  connection  with  the  particular 
stamp  under  observation. 


FORGERIES,   FAKES,  AND   FANCIES    253 

There  are  two  varieties  of  stamps,  differing  from 
the  normal  through  some  slip  in  the  process  of 
manufacture — bicoloured  stamps,  in  which  the 
portion  printed  in  one  colour  is  inverted  as  regards 
the  remainder  of  the  design,  caused  by  carelessness 
in  "  feeding "  the  partly-printed  sheet  wrong  way 
up  into  the  press,  for  the  second  impression  com- 
pleting the  design ;  and  pairs  of  stamps,  which, 
each  quite  normal  if  severed,  are  when  se  tenant 
inverted  in  respect  to  each  other,  a  condition 
philatelically  termed  tete-beche. 

The  fraudulent  manipulator  has  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  these,  generally  scarce  and  frequently  very 
rare,  eccentricities,  cutting  out  from  the  bicoloured  s, 
stamp  the  part  printed  in  one  colour  and  replacing 
it  with  great  care,  but  upside  down  ;  and,  as  to 
the  tete-beche  pairs,  manufacturing  them  by  means 
of  two  single  copies,  a  strong  adhesive  mixture 
and  heavy  pressure. 

Sometimes,  so  well  have  these  frauds  been  made 
that  nothing  short  of  several  hours'  boiling  has 
sufficed  to  dissolve  the  illegal  union  of  the  two 
pieces  of  paper — a  drastic  test,  and  one  somewhat 
detrimental  to  the  value  of  such  copies  as  are 
enabled,  by  their  genuineness,  to  survive  the  ordeal. 
The  possible  result  to,  say,  a  mint  imperforate 
Fourpence,  Ceylon,  suspected  of  having  recently 
acquired  its  otherwise  desirable  "  margins,"  reminds 
me  of  the  test  given  (not  advocated)  by  a  famous 
philatelist  for  the  detection  of  forgeries  of  early 
Cashmere  stamps,  which  were  printed  in  water- 
colour — "  Put  them  in  water  ;  if  the  colour  is  *  fast  * 


254       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

the  stamp  is  a  forgery  ;  if  it  comes  off,  leaving  a 
blank  piece  of  paper,  the  stamp  is  genuine  "  ! 

A  famous  forgery  was  put  on  the  market  some 
years  ago,  the  stamp  imitated  being  the  One  Penny 
value  of  the  well-known  first  issue  of  New  South 
Wales,  commonly  called  "Sydney  Views."  This 
stamp  was  issued  in  sheets  of  twenty-five,  each  repe- 
tition of  the  design  being  separately  engraved  on  the 
plate  and  so  giving  twenty-five  minor  varieties  ;  and 
subsequently  the  entire  plate  was  re-cut,  doubling 
the  number  of  varieties  for  the  specialist.  The  forger 
engraved  his  fraudulent  wares  and  printed  the  labels, 
as  were  the  originals,  direct  from  the  plate,  in  a  very 
good  imitation  of  the  ink  used  in  1850  and  on 
similar  paper;  and  these  reproductions,  often  in 
pairs,  were  affixed  to  old  envelopes  and  cancelled 
with  forged  postmarks. 

So  well  executed  were  these  forgeries  that  sus- 
picions as  to  their  character  were  not  raised  until  an 
endeavour  was  made  to  ascertain  the  original  posi- 
tions on  the  sheet  of  these  desirable  (?)  specimens  : 
then  it  was  found  that  the  details  of  design  did  not 
tally  with  those  of  any  of  the  known  varieties,  and 
the  career  of  yet  another  forgery  was  brought  (some- 
what tardily)  to  an  untimely  end. 

Watermarks  in  the  paper  were  for  many  years  a 
stumbling-block  to  the  counterfeiter,  and  practically 
all  the  old  and  generally  poorly  lithographed  forgeries 
were  on  plain  paper :  nowadays,  however,  the  water- 
mark is  imitated  by  actually  thinning  the  paper 
where  necessary,  or  by  impressing  it  with  a  die  cut 
to  resemble  the  design,  or  by  painting  the  "water- 


FORGERIES,  FAKES,  AND  FANCIES    255 

mark  "  on  the  back  with  an  oily  composition  which 
renders  the  paper  slightly  transparent,  and  so 
apparently  thinner. 

In  a  comparatively  recent  forgery  of  the  Registra- 
tion stamp  of  New  South  Wales  sent  by  a  corre- 
spondent, the  counterfeit  was  produced  by  the  same 
process  (from  line-engraved  plates)  as  the  original ; 
the  watermark  showed  very  distinctly  when  the  label 
was  placed  face  down,  but  was  not  visible  at  all  when 
held  up  to  the  light :  it  was  a  "  paint "  mark  in  a 
very  faint  tint  of  the  ink  used  for  printing  that  part 
of  the  forgery  where  it  appeared. 

Occasionally,  but  it  must  be  admitted  not  very 
often,  forgeries  are  so  inscribed.  A  notable  instance 
is  the  series  of  large  handsome  stamps  issued  by  the 
United  States  during  1875-95  for  payment  of  the 
postage  on  newspapers,  singly  or  in  bulk,  and  ranging 
from  one  cent  to  the  high  value  of  one  hundred 
dollars :  on  each  of  these  particular  counterfeits  the 
word  "  Falsch  "  was  engraved  as  part  of  the  design, 
and  "  Facsimile  "  was  printed  across  the  central  por- 
tion of  the  stamp. 

Practically  the  same  course  was  adopted  in  the 
native  manufacture  of  forged  sets  of  the  early 
Japanese  stamps,  the  counterfeits  (which  were  pro- 
duced by  the  same  process  as  the  originals)  being 
marked  in  the  design  with  two  microscopic  characters 
signifying  "  facsimile  "  :  unfortunately  for  the  honest 
intention  of  the  forger  to  give  due  notice  of  the 
spuriousness  of  his  productions,  the  incriminating 
letters  are  so  small  that  a  carefully  applied  post- 
mark is  apt  to  completely  hide  them. 


256       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Some  stamps  have  been  very  extensively  forged : 
for  instance,  of  the  2j  rappen  issued  in  the  Swiss 
Canton  of  Basle,  in  1845,  no  less  than  seventeen 
distinct  counterfeits  have  been  detected.  The  stamp, 
of  which  an  embossed  dove  carrying  a  letter  in 
its  beak  is  the  central  part  of  the  design,  is 
tricoloured — pale  greenish  blue,  dull  crimson  and 
black — and,  in  common  with  most  of  the  other  Swiss 
Cantonals,  is  becoming  rare.  Copies  have  also  been 
faked  by  thinning  down  card  proofs  of  the  genuine 
impression  and  adding  gum. 

Of  the  rarest  Cantonal  stamp,  usually  known  as 
the  "  double  Geneva,"  and  consisting  of  two  stamps 
of  5  centimes  each,  joined  at  the  top  by  a  long  label 
inscribed  with  the  aggregate  value  of  10  centimes, 
fifteen  (probably  more)  forgeries  are  known ;  and  as 
the  entire  stamp  is  priced  at  £'j^  unused  and  £2Z 
used,  it  is  naturally  worth  the  counterfeiter's  while  to 
persist  in  the  improvement  of  his  imitations,  with 
little  hope,  however,  of  attaining  a  perfection  sufficient 
to  defy  discovery. 

Individuals,  however,  are  not  the  only  forgers  of 
postage-stamps :  Governments,  too,  in  their  anxiety 
to  provide  so-called  "reprints"  for  sale  to  dealers 
and  collectors,  have  not  hesitated  to  supply  the 
necessary  dies  and  plates,  replacing  those  originally 
A.  ^  used  and  long  since  cancelled  ;  and  some  have  sunk 
so  low  as  to  deliberately  manufacture  counterfeits, 
and  sell  them  as  genuine  stamps  out  of  a  supposed 
stock  left  on  hand  ! 
^^r*^  A  reprint  is  an  impression  from  the  old  original 

die,  plate,  or  stone,  taken  after  the  stamp  has  become 


FORGERIES,  FAKES,   AND  FANCIES    257 

obsolete ;  but  prints  from  a  new  die,  however  faithful 
a  copy  it  may  be,  can  only  be  correctly  given  one 
name — forgery. 

In  1875,  the  United  States  Government,  desiring  to 
exhibit  a  complete  series  of  their  postage-stamps,  and 
finding  that  the  original  dies  and  plates  used  for 
production  of  the  Five  and  Ten  Cents,  1847,  were  not 
available,  ordered  new  dies  to  be  cut :  impressions 
from  these,  though  closely  approaching  the  originals, 
can  be  distinguished  therefrom  by  certain  minute  but 
well-defined  differences  in  the  design. 

The  first  issue  of  Fiji — a  series  printed  from 
ordinary  printers'  type  at  the  office  of  a  local 
newspaper,  and  known  amongst  philatelists  as  the 
"  Fiji  Times  Express  "  stamps — has  been  twice  "  re- 
printed "  from  a  special  setting-up  of  similar  type ; 
but,  as  the  original  printing  forme  had  been  "dis- 
tributed," even  a  re-setting  of  the  actual  type  would 
produce  little  less  than  a  forgery  of  a  class  euphem- 
istically described  as  "  official  imitations." 

The  greatest  sinners  in  this  respect  were  the 
officials  at  Jassy,  Roumania,  who,  in  response  to 
numerous  applications  for  copies  of  the  four  very 
rare  stamps  of  July,  1858,  caused  to  be  made,  at 
different  times,  no  less  than  three  varying  types  of 
the  54,  81,  and  108  paras — which  they  sold  as 
genuine.  It  was  only  in  the  late  'seventies  that  this 
official  fraud  was  thoroughly  exposed. 

As  I  have  indicated,  it  is  impossible,  within  the 
limits  of  a  single  chapter,  to  do  more  than  touch  the 
fringe  of  the  subject  of  forgery  and  "  faking,"  and  the 
dissection    of   a    few  skilful   imitations    would    not 


258       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

materially  add  to  the  warning  which  the  previous 
few  pages  will  have  conveyed — that  the  interest 
taken  by  the  forger  in  Philately  is  a  purely  mercenary 
one,  detrimental  to  our  scientific  hobby  and  damaging 
to  our  pockets ;  the  collector  must  always  be  on  the 
defensive  and  on  the  look-out  for  pitfalls,  not  relying 
too  much  on  a  guarantee  of  genuineness  (which  only 
secures  reimbursement  of  money  paid)  to  prevent  the 
admission  into  his  album  of  a  forgery  or  clever  fake. 

The  prevalence  of  forgery — and  the  almost  equally 
reprehensible  "reprinting" — should  be  no  insur- 
mountable obstacle  to  the  collector  ;  rather  it  should 
be  a  spur  to  prick  the  sides  of  his  intent  to  intimate 
study  and  patient  research.  By  collecting  in  a 
thorough  and  scientific  manner,  the  collector  will  so 
impress  on  his  memory  the  general  features  of  the 
majority  of  the  world's  issues,  together  with  the 
details  of  the  safeguards  afforded  by  paper,  water- 
mark and  perforation,  that  the  first  glimpse  at  a 
forgery  or  fake  will  reveal  a  something  which  at  once 
rouses  suspicion  that  the  particular  label  is  not  the 
legitimate  offspring  of  the  Post  Office. 

The  "  bogus  "  stamp,  that  is,  the  fraudulent  label 
which  has  never  existed  as  an  original,  is  not  to  be 
feared :  standard  catalogues  of  the  present  day  con- 
tain a  practically  accurate  list  of  the  designs  of  all 
issued  stamps,  and  information  as  to  new  issues  is  so 
widely  disseminated  by  the  philatelic  press  that  the 
chances  of  successfully  placing  a  bogus  stamp  or 
issue  are  very  small. 

There  have  been  frauds  of  this  kind,  but  they  are 
so  few,  and  their  character  is  so  easily  ascertained 


FORGERIES,  FAKES,  AND  FANCIES    259 

from  the  perusal  of  any  catalogue  deserving  of  the 
name,  that  it  will  suffice  to  merely  mention  two  or 
three  countries  which  have  had  bogus  issues  foisted 
on  them. 

A  place  supposed  to  be  named  Sedang  and  said  to 
be  ruled  by  a  Frenchman  was  credited  with  a  set  of 
stamps  for  its  non-existent  Post  Office ;  Brunei,  in 
1895  or  thereabouts,  was  reported  to  have  issued  a 
set  of  stamps,  which  eventually  turned  out  to  be  the 
private  speculation  of  some  European  trader ;  and  1 
Cordoba  (a  province  of  Argentina)  had  her  two 
legitimate  stamps  of  5  and  10  centavos  supplemented 
by  four  higher  values  of  similar  design  made  for  the  j 
delectation  of  collectors. 

There  are  a  good  many  more,  including  the  so- 
called  issues  for  Clipperton  Island,  Torres  Straits, 
Principality  of  Trinidad,  Counani  (the  character  of 
these  last  named  is,  I  believe,  still  contested),  Spits- 
bergen ;  and  certain  labels  purporting  to  hail  from 
Hayti,  Hawaii,  German  East  Africa,  and  Mozambique. 

For  the  novice  it  may  be  well  to  add  that  the 
absence  of  a  variety  of  a  known  stamp  from  the 
catalogue  does  not  necessarily  signify  that  it  must  be 
so  rare  in  that  particular  form  that  it  is  unknown  to 
the  cataloguer.  It  may,  of  course,  be  a  new  dis- 
covery, but  it  is  not  less  likely  to  be  a  variety  which 
has  been  built  up  by  some  one  interested  in  beguiling 
you  with  a  fancy  of  his  own.  Forgers  have  been 
known  to  add  new  denominations  to  the  sets  of 
stamps  they  have  been  counterfeiting,  that  is  to  say, 
bearing  face  values  unknown  in  the  genuine  series, 
and  sometimes  fictitious  overprints  or  surcharges  are 

14 


260       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

applied  to  genuine  stamps.  The  most  remarkable 
instance  of  the  latter  I  can  recall  is  the  "  Two  Cents  " 
overprint  on  the  3  cents  brown  on  yellow  Sarawak, 
which  even  the  local  authorities  had  come  to  believe 
in  as  having  been  applied  by  an  up-country  official 
in  need  of  Two  Cents  stamps,  but  which  were  sur- 
charged in  London,  where  the  dies  of  the  surcharge 
and  the  very  genuine-looking  combinations  of  post- 
marks were  subsequently  found  during  an  important 
cause  celebre. 


IX 

FAMOUS 
COLLECTIONS 


CHAPTER   IX 

FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS 

The  "mania"  in  the  'sixties — Some  wonderful  early  collections — 
The  first  auction  sale — Judge  Philbrick  and  his  collection — The 
Image  collection — Lord  Crawford's  **  United  States  "  and  '*  Great 
Britain" — Other  great  modem  collections — M.  la  Renotiere's 
"legions  of  stamps" — Synopsis  of  sales  of  collections. 

To  fail  to  emphasise  the  broadly  democratic 
character  of  the  world  of  stamp  collectors  would 
be  to  overlook  an  important  aspect  of  the  popularity 
of  this  science,  or,  as  it  is  to  the  majority,  the 
"  hobby "  of  stamps.  I  have  already  indicated  the 
dual  side  of  the  collecting  in  the  'sixties,  when 
the  boy-collector  predominated  in  numbers,  but  the 
adult  student  had  the  influence  that  gave  "  Philately" 
or  "  Timbrologie "  a  permanent  place  among  the 
recreative  studies.  A  note  on  the  "  Postage  Stamp 
Exchange  "  in  The  Express^  in  April,  1 862,  indicates 
the  benevolent  toleration  on  the  part  of  the  out- 
side public  and  the  press  concerning  the  new  "  mania." 
"...  We  may  mention  that  the  mania  has  been 
increased  in  such  a  degree  as  to  lead  to  the  for- 
mation of  a  postage-stamp  exchange,  the  locality 
being  Change  Alley,  leading  out  of  Birchin   Lane. 


264       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

There  every  evening  about  fifty  boys,  and  some  men^ 
tooy  may  be  seen  industriously  exchanging  old  dis- 
figured stamps,  most  of  which  are  carefully  fastened 
in  books.  The  earnestness  and  assiduity  with 
which  the  *  trade '  is  carried  on  is  very  remarkable." 

"'Some  men,  too,'"  says  Mr.  Mount  Brown  in 
sending  me  the  paragraph,  "is  very  lovely."  It 
would  be  idle  to  disguise  the  fact  that  the  mantle 
of  bare  toleration  of  the  "  mania "  has  not  been 
entirely  discarded  by  the  uninitiated,  and  it  has 
been  a  very  disconcerting  privilege  to  have  for 
chairmen  at  lectures  on  postage-stamps,  at  literary 
and  scientific  institutions,  gentlemen  who  have  in- 
troduced the  subject  by  confessing  that  they  had 
once  been  collectors  themselves,  but  that  was  when 
they  were  at  school.  The  press,  however,  has  shown 
a  greater  respect  for  the  substantial  basis  of  scientific 
interest  which  underlies  the  hobby,  and  to-day 
The  Daily  Telegraphy  which  has  led  the  modern 
journalism  in  the  matter  of  regular  specialised 
articles,  has  its  column  of  "  Postage  Stamp "  notes 
every  week,  and  so  too  has  The  Evening  News. 

To-day,  the  press  frequently  discusses  interesting 
new  issues  of  stamps,  and  much  publicity  is  now 
given  to  that  argumentum  ad  populum^  the  remark- 
able prices  which  are  constantly  being  realised  in 
the  stamp-market.  Considering  that  stamp-collect- 
ing can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  having  started  prior 
to  1 860-6 1,  the  prices  of  stamps  quickly  attained 
respectable  proportions.  In  The  Young  Ladies' 
Journal  of  December  14,  1864,  there  is  this 
paragraph : — 


FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS  265 

"  We  had  almost  heard  nothing  of  late  of  the 
postage-stamp  collecting  mania,  till  suddenly  the 
formidable  announcement  is  made  by  advertisement 
that  an  amateur  is  ready  to  sell  his  collection — 
for  what  sum  would  it  be  thought? — nothing  less 
than  ^250." 

Had  the  doubting  Thomas  ^  (for  I  dare  say 
gentlemen  edited  ladies'  papers  in  those  days,  much 
as  they  undertake  the  duties  of  "  Aunt  Molly "  and 
the  "  Editress's  Confidences  "  in  the  ladies'  journals 
of  to-day)  had  the  foresight  to  buy  a  collection  worth 
;^250  in  1864,  it  would  have  been  worth  not  less 
than,  say,  ;^25,ooo,  probably  more,  to-day. 

The  collecting  of  stamps  has  at  all  times  in  the 
history  of  Philately  been  enjoyed  by  young  and 
old,  by  men  and  women  of  all  ranks  and  stations. 
Kings  have  shared  this  pastime  with  the  humblest 
of  their  subjects,  and  do  so  to  this  day.  His  Majesty 
King  George  V.  once  wrote  of  stamp-collecting 
to  a  friend  that  "  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures 
of  my  life."  A  letter  "enthusing"  on  the  delights 
of  stamp-hunting  reached  me  the  other  day  from 
a   correspondent  who  claimed  to  be  "only  a  work- 

*  Earlier  in  the  same  year  this  boudoir  gossiper  had  answered  no 
fewer  than  three  correspondents,  '*  Mercury,"  *'  Daniel,"  and  '*  Milly  " 
at  one  shot  thus  ;  '*  We  cannot  encourage  *  exchanging  foreign  stamps,' 
for  we  do  not  see  the  smallest  good  resulting  from  it.  This  foreign 
stamp-collecting  has  been  a  mania,  which  is  at  length  dying  out. 
Were  the  stamps  works  of  art,  then  the  collecting  them  might  be 
justified.  Were  they,  in  short,  anything  but  bits  of  defaced  printing, 
totally  worthless,  we  would  try  to  say  something  in  their  favour.  There 
are  now  so  many  lithographic  forgeries  in  the  market  that  he  is 
the  cleverest  of  the  clever  who  can  detect  the  spurious  stamps  from 
the  true." — The  Young  Ladies'  Journal^  April  27,  1864. 


286       CHATS   ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

ing-man.'*  There  are  few  old  stagers  amongst 
collectors  who  have  not  encountered,  and  perhaps 
even  been  stimulated  by,  the  boastful  eagerness 
with  which  a  youngster  in  his  'teens  tells  you  of 
bargains  got  from  Gibbons's  books,  or  of  a  rare 
"snap,"  an  unnoticed  variety  priced  as  the  normal 
from  Peckitt.  For  the  Strand  is  full  of  bargains 
to-day,  to  the  personal  hunter  who  has  the  right 
knowledge. 

Having  alluded  to  the  wide  differences  in  ages 
and  in  stations  of  collectors  throughout  the  phila- 
telic period  1862-1911,  it  will  be  interesting  to 
follow  the  more  notable  collections  in  their  vicissi- 
tudes. M.  Alfred  Potiquet,  one  of  the  very  earliest 
collectors,  whose  catalogue  is  of  extreme  rarity  in 
its  first  edition,  was  probably  an  almost  solitary 
example  of  the  collector  of  unused  stamps  only, 
in  the  first  days  of  the  hobby.  It  is  strange  that 
in  these  later  days  the  collectors  on  the  Continent, 
almost  to  a  man,  prefer  used  stamps.  But  to 
return  to  Potiquet :  he  was  probably  the  first 
collector  of  importance  to  sell  his  collection  out- 
right, which  he  did  about  the  time  the  second 
edition  of  his  catalogue  was  issued  by  Lacroix. 
The  collection  was  a  small  one,  about  five  hundred 
stamps,  all  unused,  and  he  sold  the  lot  to  Edard 
de  Laplante  in  1862  for  five  hundred  francs,  of  which 
sum  the  purchaser  had  to  borrow  one  half  to  complete 
the  deal.  But,  if  the  reader  considers  that  five 
hundred  francs  represents  approximately  ;£^20,  he 
will  appreciate  the  purchaser's  bargain  when  told 
that  the  collection  included  the  New  Brunswick  is. 


FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS  267 

(representing  to-day  £70) ;  the  Nova  Scotia  is. 
{£SS~£^S  to-day)  ;  the  Natal  3d.  and  6d.  embossed 
in  plain  relief,  which  now  are  almost  unattainable, 
except  as  reprints ;  Tuscany's  60  crazie  (now 
worth  ^35)  and  the  i  soldo  {£7  to  £%)\  and  the 
4  and  5  centimes  "  Poste  Locale "  stamps  of  the 
transitional  period  of  Switzerland,  which  catalogue 
at  £100  and  £10  respectively ;  and  add  to  these 
many  of  the  early  issues  of  the  Americas,  the 
prices  ot  which  are  now  leaping  up  in  the 
catalogues,  and  of  which  we  know  Potiquet  to  have 
had  a  good  number,  including  the  very  rare  error, 
the  half-peso  of  Peru,  printed  in  rose-red  instead 
of  yellow,  through  a  transfer  of  that  denomination 
getting  mixed  up  in  the  making  up  of  the  litho- 
graphic stone  for  the  i  peseta.  The  above  error 
is  priced  £1^  used,  but  an  unused  copy  would  be 
worth  very  considerably  more.  He  had  also  the 
I  real  and  2  reales  of  the  Pacific  Steam  Naviga- 
tion Company  stamps,  on  blued  paper. 

Who  was  the  amateur  whose  collection  was 
referred  to  in  the  Young  Ladies'  Journal  in  1864? 
It  was  possibly  the  "  long  cherished  album "  of 
that  "worthy  embodiment  of  Christian  and  gentle- 
man," the  Rev.  F.  Stainforth,  the  chief  gems  of  which 
passed  about  this  time  into  the  possession  of  Mr. 
Philbrick.  What  price  the  reverend  invalid  (he 
survived  the  sale  but  eighteen  months)  received 
has  not  been  handed  down  to  us,  but  as  Mr.  Stain- 
forth  had  been  in  the  swim  from  the  beginning, 
as  he  was  a  ready  and  high  bidder  for  "any  real 
or  supposed  rarity,"  and  as  his  album  was  a  general 


268       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

reference  collection  at  the  Saturday  afternoon 
rendezvous  at  the  rectory  of  All  Hallows,  London 
Wall,  it  goes  without  saying  that  it  was  rich  in 
stamps  that  to-day  would  be  of  the  greatest  value. 
At  least  two  of  the  St.  Louis  Postmaster  stamps 
were  included.  The  first  "  Patimus  "  British  Guiana 
known  was  in  the  Stainforth  collection,  a  rarity 
with  the  motto  of  the  colony  Damns  petimusque 
vicissim^  wrongly  spelt  "patimus,"  an  error  which, 
as  Mr.  Edward  L.  Pemberton  pointed  out,  laid 
the  colonists  open  to  "  the  charge  of  selecting  that 
which  was  beyond  their  ability  to  spell,"  but  which 
was  purely  an  engraver's  error.  The  Stainforth 
collection  was  also  rich  in  the  American  locals, 
and  it  was  to  this  collection  that  Mr.  Mount  Brown 
was  indebted  for  the  useful  lists  of  these  stamps 
in  his  catalogues.  From  the  little  we  know  of 
the  reverend  gentleman's  collection,  we  may  be  sure 
it  would  have  well  justified  the  remarkable  price 
of  ;£'25o  even  in  1864  or  1865. 

Few — very  few — collectors  of  that  period,  and 
indeed  of  later  times,  withstood  the  temptations  of 
a  rapidly  rising  market  or  the  emergencies  of 
pecuniary  embarrassments ;  many  sold  their  col- 
lections when  prices  seemed  to  be  great  but  were, 
as  events  have  proved,  still  in  their  early  stages. 
One  collector  retained  his  collection  from  1859  to 
1896:  its  owner,  Mr.  W.  Hughes-Hughes,  of  the 
Inner  Temple,  started  collecting  in  the  former  year, 
but  ceased  active  collecting  in  1874,  from  which 
time  his  album  was  latent  until  1896 — with  the 
exception    of  some    items    lent  for   display  at  the 


FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS  269 

London  Exhibition  of  1890.  Happily  for  our 
instruction,  Mr.  Hughes-Hughes  was  one  of  those 
methodical  men  who  keep  a  strict  account  of 
expenditures,  and  he  had  spent  £6(^  on  his  stamp- 
collection  in  those  fifteen  years.  In  1896  he  sold 
that  collection  for  ;£"3,ooo.  It  was  then  cheap  at 
the  latter  price,  for  it  contained  among  its  2,900 
varieties  a  yellow  Austrian  "  Mercury "  unused  ;  a 
4  cents  British  Guiana  of  1856,  on  blue  "sugar" 
paper;  the  I2d.  black  of  Canada  unused;  plate  77 
of  the  id.  Great  Britain  unused  ;  and,  mirabile  dictUy 
an  unused  copy  of  the  4d.  red  "  woodblock  "  error 
of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  a  stamp  which  afterwards 
fetched  ;^50o.  One  could  go  on  to  the  rare  used 
stamps,  and  so  "  pile  on  the  agony,"  but  let  it  suffice 
for  the  present  to  say  that  the  collection  contained 
many  gems,  especially  in  those  classic  early  issues 
of  Victoria,  Trinidad,  Mauritius,  France,  Reunion 
(the  15  centimes),  Mexico,  Naples  (the  J  Tornese  in 
both  types),  Tuscany,  Saxony,  &c.,  the  very  names 
of  which  countries  conjure  up  for  the  present-day 
philatelist  visions  of  pocket-money  for  millionaires. 
Hying  back  to  the  Continent,  the  troubles  in 
France  led  to  considerable  disruption  of  the  phila- 
telic life,  and  no  doubt  many  collectors  and  their 
albums  were  parted.  M.  Oscar  Berger-Levrault 
was  the  producer  of  the  earliest  privately  printed 
lists  of  stamps.  His  firm  of  typographical  printers, 
which  had  been  established  in  Strasburg  (the  city 
of  Gutenberg  associations),  had  to  move  from  Stras- 
burg to  Nancy,  as  a  result  of  the  German  annexa- 
tion of  Alsace  and  Lorraine.    The  work  of  setting 


270       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE   STAMPS 

up,  in  a  new  centre,  establishments  for  his  four 
hundred  workmen  left  M.  Berger-Levrault  no  time 
for  stamps  from  1870  to  1873,  and  this  lapse  in  the 
continuity  of  his  collection  was  so  serious  a  gap 
that  he  decided  to  sell,  especially  as  he  had  to 
undertake  long  bibliographical  researches  into  his 
family  history.  He  has  told  us  something  of  his 
collection,  but  not  the  price  it  realise^!  in  1873. 
Here  is  a  brief  statistical  outline  : — 


Contents  of  the  collection,  September,  1861     . 

..     Stamps     673 

„          „               „          August,  1862 

„       1,142 

„          „                „          April,  1863 

„       1.553 

July,  1864  ... 

„       1,857 

These  figures  are  without  counting  varieties  of 
shade.  In  1870  the  collection  contained  10,400 
stamps  in  all,  including  6,300  unused,  and  more  than 
1,400  genuine  essays.  "  I  was  only  short  of  fifty 
postage-stamps  known  at  that  date,"  he  writes, 
"  as  also  a  certain  number  of  Australian  stamps,  with 
their  various  watermarks,  which  I  had  begun  to 
study  towards  1866,  with  my  old  friends  and  col- 
laborators, F.  A.  Philbrick  and  Dr.  Magnus."  ^ 

Here  indeed  was  a  collection,  probably  as  near 
to  the  collector's  elusive  ideal  of  completeness  as 
has  ever  been  attained  in  a  general  collection. 
Writing  from  memory,  in  January,  1890,  he  gives 
the  following  list  of  special  items  he  remembers  to 
have  been  amongst  the  6,300  unused  stamps  : — 

'  The  pseudonym  of  Dr.  Legrand. 


FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS 


271 


Bergedorf 

..     Nov.  I, 

186I 

...    J  sch.  violet. 
3  sch.  rose. 

Saxony        

... 

1850 

...    3pf. 

Great  Britain 

... 

1840 

...     id.V.R, 

Switzerland  :  Zurich 

... 

1843 

...     4  rapp. 

>j            j> 

M 

...     6  rapp. 

„        "Vaud" 

... 

— 

...     4  centimes. 

»>              »» 

... 



...    5 

Tuscany      

... 

1849 

...     I  soldo. 

)) 

... 

M 

...     2  soldi. 

>> 

... 

J) 

...    60  crazie. 

Naples        

i860 

...     ^T.  arms. 

>» 

... 

»i 

...     J  T.  cross. 

Reunion      

... 

I85I 

...     15  centimes. 

»> 

... 

»> 

...     30  centimes. 

"Indies"     

1854 

...     J  anna  red. 

New  Zealand 

... 

1855 

...       IS. 

New  Brunswick 

... 

1857 

...       IS. 

Nova  Scotia 

... 

1857 

...       IS. 

British  Guiana 

... 

1856 

...    4  cents  carmine. 

Peru            

... 

1858 

...    i  peso. 

Buenos  Ayres 

...      April 

1858 

...     3  pesos. 

»»          >» 

»» 

t) 

...    4  pesos  red. 

»»          »> 

>» 

»» 

...     4    „     brown. 

>>          >» 

»i 

)» 

...     5    „     orange. 

>>          >> 

Oct. 

n 

...    4  rl.  brown. 

)>              a 

>> 

>> 

I  peso  brown 
(:IN  Ps). 

j>              j> 

Jan. 

1859 

...     ipesoblue(:INPs) 

»>              >> 

if 

>> 

I   „       „    (TOPS) 

"  On  the  other  hand,  Spain,  without  its  colonies, 
was  represented  in  my  collection  for  the  period  of 
1850  to  the  end  of  1856  by  79  unused  stamps,  80 
postmarked  stamps,  8  essays  of  the  Madrid  stamp 
(bear),  and  was  very  complete."  Even  on  the  ex- 
tenuated scale  of  the  modern  Gibbons  catalogue, 
the  total  of  varieties  of  the  issues  1850-56  only 
numbers  125. 


272       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

The  first  four-figure  price  for  a  stamp  collection 
was  obtained  in  1878,  when  the  magnificent  collec- 
tion of  Sir  Daniel  Cooper,  Bart,  K.C.M.G.,  was 
transferred  to  the  ownership  of  Mr.  Philbrick,  Q.C., 
for  ;£'3,ooo.  Sir  Daniel's  public  career,  chiefly  in  con- 
nection with  the  promotion  of  "Advance,  Australia ! ", 
is  still  well  remembered,  but  it  is  significant  of  the 
character  of  the  assemblages  at  Mr.  Stainforth's 
rectory  that  this  distinguished  Australian  should 
have  been  one  of  their  most  active  promoters  in  1861 
and  the  following  years.  He  was,  with  Mr.  Philbrick, 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Philatelic  Society  in 
1869,  and  was  the  first  of  the  line  of  distinguished 
occupants  of  the  presidential  chair  of  the  now 
Royal  Philatelic  Society.  It  is  only  natural  that, 
with  his  intimate  associations  with  Australia, 
the  early  stamps  of  that  continent  and  of  New 
Zealand  should  figure  strongly  in  his  collection. 
It  was  he  who  supplied  the  data  which  enabled  the 
young  philatelic  giant,  Mr.  E.  L.  Pemberton,  to 
announce  the  existence  of  a  pre-Rowland  Hill 
stamped  envelope  in  New  South  Wales,  leading 
to  the  discovery  of  the  embossed  letter-sheets  of 
Sydney,  1838. 

On  March  18,  1872,  there  was  held  the  first 
auction  of  rare  postage-stamps  at  the  rooms  of 
Messrs.  Sotheby,  in  Wellington  Street,  London. 
The  experiment  was  made  with  what  was  described 
as  a  portion  of  an  American  collection,  and  the  only 
reason  the  whole  collection  was  not  offered  was  that 
the  time  of  the  public  was  too  valuable  to  spread 
over  three  days !     A    criticism  in  the  columns  of 


FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS  273 

The  Philatelical  Journal oi  April  15,  1872,  attributes 
some  of  the  prices,  even  then  considered  low,  to  the 
distrust  of  amateurs  when  the  owner  was  bidding. 
I  give  a  few  of  the  prices  realised.  Lot  6  was  the 
IS  cents  error,  United  States,  1869,  with  the  frame 
inverted  :  "  This  fetched  a  good  priced'  in  the  opinion 
of  the  contemporary  philatelic  writer,  being  knocked 
down  to  Mr.  Atlee  for  36s.  My  friend,  Mr.  E.  B. 
Power,  in  his  priced  work  "  United  States  Stamps," 
1909,  prices  this  stamp  at  $2,500  unused,  $150 
used.  Lot  12  was  a  5  cents  Brattleboro  :  "  a  beauty, 
was  bought  in  at  £1 ;  it  would  have  sold  well  but 
for  the  owner's  bidding,"  &c.  I  suppose  a  Brattle- 
boro, especially  "  a  beauty,"  would  find  ready  com- 
petition in  three  figures  to-day.  Other  lots  bought 
in  were : — 

Lot  15,  St.  Louis,  all  three  varieties  of  the  5c.  ...  £2  13s. 

Lot  16,      „  „  „  „     IOC.  ...  £2  7s. 

Lot  17,      „         20c.,  "unique"  ...  £(). 

Lot  1 8,      „         20  c,  "variety  not  unique"  ...  ;[^8  12s. 

The  5  cent  St.  Louis  used  is  now  catalogued  at 
;f  25,  and  the  10  cent  at  £10 ;  a  pair  of  the 
20  cents,  these  stamps  being  part  of  the  treasure- 
trove  of  the  celebrated  find  of  1895,  was  sold  in 
the  'nineties  for  ;£'i,026.  Some  of  the  Blood  locals 
were  bought  in,  but  Mr.  Pemberton  secured  for  £^ 
a  copy  of  the  very  rare  pink  Jefferson  Market  P.O. 
stamp. 

"  Here,"  says  our  chronicler,  "  occurred  something 
amusing ;  the  auctioneer  probably  fancied  that  as 
this  was  unique    and  exciting  competition,  it  was  a 


274       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

handsome  stamp,  so  as  the  bidding  rose  described  it 
as  'beautifully  engraved,'  which  created  great 
laughter,  for  it  was  a  foully  hideous  thing,  and  the 
engraving  apparently  done  by  a  blind  man  with 
a  skewer."  Altogether  there  were  many  rare 
American  locals,  the  majority  of  which  fell  to  Sir 
Daniel  Cooper,  Mr.  Atlee,  and  Mr.  Pemberton. 
Then  came  "some  miscellaneous  lots,  sets  of 
used,  &c.,  of  which  some  fetched  exorbitant  prices, 
for  instance,  four  varieties  of  5  cents,  green,  eagle, 
Bolivia,  were  sold  for  14s.,  the  5  cent  lilac  for  23s., 
the  10  cent  brown  for  17s.  The  early  Luzons 
(Philippines),  used,  were  good  lots  and  the  5  and 
10  cent  1854,  with  i  and  2  rs.,  fetched  in  the  aggregate 
£6  9s.,  so  they  were  no  bargain." 

Lot  1 50  was  the  J  T.  Naples,  arms  type,  bought  in 
for  40s.,  and  the  cross  type  was  bought  in  for  9s. 
Lot  160  was  "a  remarkably  good  13  cent  of  the 
commoner  type  of  the  1852  figure  Sandwich  Islands, 
which  the  owner  boldly  started  at  £6  and  bought  in 
for  an  additional  ten  shillings,  a  very  full  price 
indeed!'  Nevertheless  it  would  have  cost  £go  or 
more  to-day. 

The  record  of  this  sale  deserves  more  attention 
than  I  am  able  to  give  it  here :  the  event  was  cer- 
tainly one  of  extraordinary  interest,  though  it  was 
considered  at  the  time  something  of  a  failure,  and 
was  not  repeated.  The  next  auction  sale  of  stamps 
did  not  take  place  until  sixteen  years  later.  But  I 
.  must  spare  a  few  lines  for  my  chronicler's  peroration. 

"  The  results  of  this  sale  are  so  far  satisfactory  that 
they  prove  that  Philately  is  not  yet  on  the  wane,  and 


FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS  275 

never  will  be.  It  is  a  young  science,  but  before  many 
years  pass,  we  shall  regard  £^  for  a  valuable  stamp 
as  calmly  as  we  do  now  the  pound  sterling  for  an 
ordinary  specimen;  and  those  who  have  been  the 
mainstays  of  the  dealers  will  undoubtedly  find  that 
their  outlays,  however  extensive,  will  produce  at 
least  cent,  per  cent.  What  are  we  to  think  of  the 
matchless  collections  of  Mr.  Philbrick,  Sir  Daniel 
Cooper,  Mr.  Atlee,  Baron  Arthur  de  Rothschild,  E.  J., 
and  others,  gathered  together  with  unflagging  toil 
and  patience,  but  all  of  which  contain  practically 
unattainable  things  ?  And  will  not  these  in  the 
course  of  years  inevitably  become  of  fabulous 
value  ? " 

Four  years  after  the  Cooper  collection  was  sold  for 
;f  3,000,  Mr.  Philbrick,  to  the  deep  regret  of  all  his 
British  colleagues,  sold  his  general  collection  (not  the 
Great  Britain  portion)  to  M.  la  Rdnotiere  in  Paris, 
for  the  then  record  price  of  £Zfyoo,  At  his  death, 
which  occurred  so  recently  as  Christmas,  1910,  it 
would  have  represented  the  comfortable  fortune  of, 
say,  ;^50,ooo!  It  would  be  a  shorter  task  to  say 
what  was  not  in  this  truly  wonderful  collection  than 
to  attempt  a  list  of  its  gems,  for  the  absentees  were 
almost  nil.  The  best  idea  of  the  strength  of  this 
collection  must  be  gathered  from  the  valuable  papers 
Philbrick  contributed  to  The  Stamp  Collectof^s  Maga- 
zine and  The  Philatelic  Record^  chiefly  under  the 
pseudonyms  "  Damus  petimusque  vicissim,"  "  An 
Amateur,"  and  several  "  By  the  author  of  the  'Postage 
Stamps  of  British  Guiana,' "  and  by  his  collaborated 
work  with  the  late  Mr.  W.   A.  S.  Westoby,  "The 

15 


276       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Postage  and  Telegraph  Stamps  of  Great  Britain." 
Here  I  may  fittingly  place  on  record  a  souvenir  I 
recently  acquired  of  this  collaboration  and  close 
friendship  between  these  two  most  renowned  of  the 
students  of  stamps,  whose  work  is  a  classic  in  the 
literature  of  Philately,  and  is  still  constantly  referred 
to,  being  only  in  some  respects  superseded  by  later 
authorities.  The  letter  itself  amply  justifies  publica- 
tion in  entirety  here,  as  it  throws  an  interesting  light 
on  the  philatelic  evidence  before  the  Joint  Committee 
on  Postage  Stamps  appointed  by  the  Postmaster- 
General,  the  "  confidential "  report  of  which  was 
printed  in  1885  ("Bibl.  Lindesiana,"  p.  159). 

"  II,  Earl's  Avenub,  Folkestone, 

"  December  igth. 

*'My  Dear  Philbrick,— 

"  After  seeing  you  on  Saturday  I  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jeflfery 
saying  that  you  had  told  me  the  substance  of  what  passed,  and  that  I 
most  thoroughly  endorsed  what  you  had  said  about  forgery.  It  was 
not  the  difficulty  of  forging  a  stamp  which  constituted  their  protection, 
so  much  as  the  difficulty  of  disposing  of  the  stamps  when  forged. 

*'  I  further  said  that  if  they  determined  on  having  a  surface  printed 
series  not  combined  with  embossing  they  must  allow  me  to  point  out 
what  I  considered  to  be  a  fatal  error  in  all  Messrs.  De  La  Rue's  designs, 
and  this  was  the  introduction  of  a  lined  background,  the  lines  of  which 
were  almost  coincident  with  the  lines  of  shading  in  the  head.  The 
merit  of  Bacon's  design  was  that  he  had  a  light  head  thrown  up  by  a 
dark  background,  and  I  could  scarcely  point  out  an  instance  where 
surface-printed  stamps  had  not  either  a  solid  background  or  none  at 
all,  like  the  Hungarian  of  1872.  As  they  would  possibly  not  like  a 
solid  background  I  suggested  to  them  to  adopt  a  standard  profile  of  the 
Queen's  head,  and  for  all  the  stamps  up  to  is.  to  reduce  it  by  photo- 
graphy to  the  size  of  the  head  on  the  2d.,  and  for  those  above  they 
might  reduce  it  to  a  larger  size,  so  as  to  keep  the  same  likeness  through 
all,  and  to  put  it  on  a  plain  white  ground,  and  I  sent  them  a  2d.  from 
which  I  had  removed  the  lined  background  like  as  I  have  done  in  the 
id.  annexed. 

"  That  if  they  would  excuse  my  making  a  further  suggestion  it  would 


FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS 


277 


be  that  for  all  the  stamps  up  to  is.  about  four  colours  would  suffice,  if 
the  framings  were  made  different  and  distinctly  visible,  .  .  .  thus  : — 


Green 


id. 

Ijd. 

3d. 


pink 

like  the 

present  5s. 


fid. 
J  2d. 
(4d. 


blue 
ike  the 

2S. 


2id. 
5d. 


olive 


"  I  have  had  a  very  courteous  reply  from  Mr.  Jeffery,  thanking  me 
much  for  the  letter,  and  saying  he  would  lay  it  before  the  Committee 
at  the  next  meeting. 

"  I  forgot  to  mention  one  thing  I  said.  That  I  knew  that  stamp 
collectors  were  not  regarded  with  too  much  favour  by  the  authorities, 
who  were  inclined  to  regard  them  as  too  curious  and  desiring  to  look 
into  mysteries  into  which  even  angels  were  forbidden  to  look,  but  that 
they  ought  to  take  a  very  different  view,  for  we  were  the  greatest  pro- 
tectors against  forgeries  of  stamps  that  they  could  have.  Not  one 
came  out,  but  was  immediately  denounced  in  the  publications  circu- 
lating amongst  collectors  and  the  forger's  trade  stopped. 

*'  I  have  written  you  a  long  lot  of  twaddle,  but  I  have  tried  to  sound 
the  trumpet  of  the  Philatelist — what  Bunhill  Row  will  think  I  do  not 
know  nor  care ;  I  said  their  manufacture  was  good — the  best — but  that 
the  least  said  about  their  designs  and  colours  the  better.  I  also  said 
that  as  to  the  lettering  I  agreed  with  you  that  it  was  practically  useless 
if  the  stamp  was  properly  obliterated  and  the  saving  slips  done  away 
with. 

"  The  kind  of  stamp  I  suggested  that  they  should  have  the  design 
made  of  as  a  trial  was  the  2d.  head  turned  the  other  way,  when  they 
could  see  the  effect. 

"  Ever  yours  very  affectionately, 

"W.  A.  S.  Westoby." 

I  am  not  entering  upon  any  details  of  the  Philbrick 
collection,  for  the  most  I  could  give  would  be  a  bald 
citation  of  an  almost  untold  list  of  rarities.  Imagine 
— if  you  can — a  complete  list  of  all  known  stamps 
up  to  1880,  imagine  also  some  of  the  rarities  not 
merely  in  duplicate  or  triplicate,  but  in  the  course  of 
advanced  plating  of  the  settings  (especially  in 
British   Guiana),   and   you    may   get   some   idea   of 


278        CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

what  was  in  this  great  collection — and  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  collection  of  M.  la  R^noti^re.  His 
two  used  "  Post  Offices  "  of  Mauritius  were  the  first 
known  copies  of  these  rarities,  and  were  at  first 
considered  to  be  an  error  of  the  inscription  "Post 
Paid"  of  1848,  instead  of  a  distinct  issue  of  1847. 
They  came  from  the  correspondence  of  a  M.  Borchard, 
whose  widow  found  no  fewer  than  thirteen  of  the 
twenty-five  copies  now  known.  The  first  pair  was 
exchanged  for  a  couple  of  "  Montevideos,"  which  had, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  lady,  so  M.  Moens  tells  us,  "  the 
supreme  advantage  of  having  a  place  indicated  for 
them  in  the  Lallier  album,  where  the  '  Post  Office,' 
like  many  other  stamps,  were  not  indicated."  The 
two  stamps  were  used  on  one  envelope,  and  were 
postmarked  together  with  one  impression  of  the 
"Inland"  handstamp,  the  id.  specimen  having  the 
left  upper  corner  defective.  M.  Albert  Coutures, 
a  youngster  of  twenty,  secured  the  stamps  in  the 
"swap,"  and  afterwards  (October,  1865)  parted  with 
them  to  M.  Moens  through  the  medium  of  a 
Bordeaux  merchant,  M.  E.  Gimet.  The  price 
Moens  paid  must  have  been  a  mere  trifle,  as  he 
parted  with  them  to  Mr.  Philbrick  on  February  15, 
1866,  for  a  few  pounds.  The  record  of  these  stamps 
Nos.  I  and  2  in  Moens's  "  A  History  of  the  Twenty 
Known  Specimens,  &c.,"  is  therefore  briefly — 


Year. 

Owner. 

1847 

Borchard. 

1864  (?) 

Coutures. 

1865 

Gimet. 

1865 

Moens. 

1866 

Philbrick. 

1882 

La  Renotiere. 

C'-ii  ^\ 


s^ 

S  o 

Is 

c  < 

■<  en 
O 

a, 
o 

> 


._^ 


a 

X 
H 


279 


FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS  281 

To-day  their  "weight  in  gold"  would,  of  course,  repre- 
sent but  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  their  market  value. 

The  Image  collection  was  sold  in  the  same  year 
as  the  Philbrick  albums.  Mr.  W.  E.  Image  was 
yet  another  of  the  vieille  garde  of  Philately,  though 
he  ploughed  a  lone  furrow  during  the  early  years 
of  his  collecting,  which  began  in  1859.  His  collec- 
tion, sold  for  ;^3,ooo  in  1882,  deserves  to  be 
especially  noted,  as  it  was  in  one  sense  the  basis 
of  the  great  national  collection  now  at  the  British 
Museum.  The  late  Mr.  T.  K.  Tapling,  M.P.,  was 
the  purchaser,  and  so  magnificent  was  his  new 
acquisition  that  he  at  one  time  thought  of  parting 
with  his  own  and  continuing  the  Image  collection. 
At  this  juncture,  the  death  of  Mr.  Tapling's  father 
enabled  him  to  amalgamate  the  two  collections, 
his  own  with  that  of  Mr.  Image,  and  to  launch  out 
upon  the  grandly  conceived  collection  bequeathed 
in  1 89 1  to  the  nation. 

Mr.  Image  at  first  compiled  his  collection  almost 
entirely  by  correspondence,  and  did  not  see  the 
inside  of  a  dealer's  shop  until  the  'seventies.  He 
is  said,  however,  to  have  never  refused  a  good 
specimen  of  a  stamp  he  lacked,  save  on  one 
occasion,  an  historic  one.  Moens  offered  him  for 
;^240  the  two  Post  Office  Mauritius,  but  he  declined, 
as  he  hoped  to  get  another  chance  at  a  more 
moderate  figure.  That  was  in  the  'seventies.  Image 
lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-six  (b.  1807), 
and  within  a  few  months  of  his  death  a  copy  of 
the  2d.  Post  Office  alone  was  sold  by  Messrs. 
Puttick  and  Simpson  for  £i,^lo. 


282       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

But  if  he  lacked  the  "  Post  Offices,"  there  was 
an  abundance  of  other  rarities.  Philbrick  travelled 
to  Bury  St.  Edmunds  to  see  Image'?  wonderful 
unused  6d.  orange  of  Victoria  ("  beaded  oval "),  a 
stamp  which  in  the  Mirabaud  sale  (1909)  fetched 
;6"i40.  The  copy  from  the  Avery  collection 
attained  in  19 10  a  price  still  higher.  British 
Guiana,  Guadalajara  and  the  American  locals  were 
amongst  the  specially  strong  sections  of  this 
collection. 

There  have  been  so  many  really  important  col- 
lections formed  since  the  Philbrick  collection  that 
almost  any  entry  into  details  becomes  invidious 
in  a  brief  review.  The  collections  of  to-day  are,  as 
I  have  indicated,  on  a  more  broadly  historical  basis 
than  was  general  in  the  early  days  of  the  study, 
though  even  the  collections  of  Dr.  Gray,  Sir  Daniel 
Cooper  and  Judge  Philbrick,  and  others,  were  on 
a  sound  basis  of  historical  research.  Philately  has 
had  no  more  precise  or  more  able  historians  than 
Judge  Philbrick  and  his  collaborator,  Mr.  W.  A.  S. 
Westoby,  while  to  Dr.  Gray  we  are  indebted  for 
the  history  of  most  of  the  English  essays  of  the 
first  period. 

But  the  collections  of  Lord  Crawford  have 
carried  the  historical  and  scientific  aspects  of 
Philately  to  more  profound  depths,  and  the  stamps 
have  been  collected  on  a  more  lavish  scale  to 
provide  ample  reference  material  not  only  for 
present  but  future  study.  Condition,  too,  has 
received  more  attention,  and  is  now  a  primary 
consideration.     The  collections  are  mostly  arranged 


r* 


ifelClOCKidOQOaQ 

ooooootujoooa 

u-,^.^      ■■ .'      -.    ■ ■    ..     .       .       ....      ^.    ..    -      ..    ..—       .ja^a^u  ..-JJ.M..  .m^^i^^ 

odooooyooaaa 

QpoaoQaaaaiH 
aoQaaoaaaaoii 

TBBI^  ^MHIF  ^■Hir  ^hlBBr'  ^wWPf^  ^^Wln  TWBH^  ^*WWw^  ^WW^  ^^^*c  ^wi^w^  ^^^^ 

aonoaaaiiociaQ 

^mHDT  "^w^^r  '^■^IW^  ^WWr "sWHB^ ^^tHWSt  ^HBBBr  ^JlflW^  ^jf^wr     viuwsi     wmwu     T^m^at 

aaaaaaaoaaaa 
aoaaaaaaaaaa 
aaaaaaaaaaaa^ 

009000000000*^ 


f  i  i  f 


aaaaaaaaaa 
aaaaaaa 


PART  SHEET  (175   STAMPS)   OF  THE   ORDINARY  ONE 
PENNY  BLACK  STAMP   OF  GREAT   BRITAIN,    184O. 

{From  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of  Crawford,  K.  T^ 


oaagaaaaaQaa 

aaaaaaaaaaaa 
aaaaaaaaaaaa 
aaaaaaaaaaaa 


aaaaaaaaaaaa 

aaaaaiaaaaaa 

naar 


in 

ii9i9iii<iBaa 
aaaaaaaaraaa 


aaaaaaaaaaaa 


aaaaaaaaaa 
aiBaaaaa 
aaoaaaaa 


NEARLY  A  COMPLETE  SHEET  (219  STAMPS  OUT  OF  240) 
OF  THE  HIGHLY  VALUED  ONE  PENNY  BLACK  "  V.R." 
STAMP,   INTENDED   FOR   OFFICIAL  USE. 

{From  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of  Crawford,  K.7.) 
285 


w^ 


it^. 


SQOOOOO 

QQdOQQG 

tH^^^  tWSOBw     aiSlI^  ^(^W^  ^^?!W^  ^*f5^R^    ^'t^  . 

IIQOQQQC 
QQOQQQt? 


itf  f  fitri 


iyuu«ii 


^'  I  ^-^fMihrnt, 


tldOdOCICIyOi 

QmmmQUB 


f  f 


.?i>.Mvi: 


PART  SHEET  (LACKING  BUT  SIX  HORIZONTAL  ROWS)  OF 
THE  SCARCE  TWO  PENCE  BLUE  STAMP  "WITHOUT 
WHITE   LINES"   ISSUED   IN   GREAT   BRITAIN,    184O. 

{From  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of  Crawford,  K.T.) 
287 


FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS  289 

in  countries  or  groups,  and  few  suspect  the  wealth 
of  material  as  yet  not  disclosed,  among  the 
sections  which  have  not  yet  been  publicly  dis- 
played. The  United  States  collection,  when  shown 
to  the  New  York  Collectors'  Club  a  few  years  ago, 
opened  up  a  new  aspect  of  Philately  to  the  col- 
lectors in  the  States,  and  gave  an  effective 
stimulus  to  the  serious  side  of  collecting  in  America. 
The  collection  is  very  fully  written  up  in  the 
Earl's  own  writing,  much  of  which  was  done 
on  board  his  yacht,  the  Valhalla.  The  collection 
contains  practically  all  that  could  be  got  together 
to  illustrate  the  postal  history  of  the  United  States, 
and  makes  the  mention  of  particular  items  useless. 
The  unique  envelope  of  Annapolis,  however,  is 
especially  noteworthy,  and  also  the  lo  cents, 
black  on  white,  adhesive  stamp  of  Baltimore,  of 
which  but  three  copies  are  known. 

Of  Great  Britain,  too.  Lord  Crawford  has  a 
large  number  of  well-filled  albums,  including  some 
extraordinarily  large  blocks  ("part  sheets"  would 
describe  them  better)  of  the  imperforate  line- 
engraved  stamps.  There  is  nearly  a  complete 
sheet  of  the  id.  black  "V.R."  (219  stamps  out  of 
the  240),  a  part  sheet  of  the  ordinary  id.  black 
(175  stamps),  and  all  but  six  rows  of  a  sheet  of 
the  scarce  2d.  blue,  "no  lines,"  which  was  the 
companion  stamp  of  the  id.  black,  and  was  issued 
on  May  6,  1840. 

The  collections  of  Mr.  Leslie  L.  R.  Hausburg, 
have,  next  to  those  of  the  Earl  of  Crawford, 
attracted   widespread    attention    and    the   unstinted 


290       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

admiration  of  philatelists.  They  have  hitherto 
dealt  chiefly  with  the  Australasian  portions  of  the 
British  Empire,  but  latterly  have  been  extended 
to  a  number  of  foreign  countries.  Mr.  M.  P. 
Castle,  J.P.,  has  formed  several  great  collections, 
as  will  be  noted  in  the  list  of  sales  which  con- 
cludes this  chapter,  and  Mr.  Henry  J.  Duveen  has 
one  of  the  three  finest  collections  of  Mauritius, 
including  the  superb  "Post  Offices,"  both  unused, 
from  the  Avery  collection,  and  a  matchless  block 
of  four,  unused,  of  the  id.  Post  Paid,  for  which 
wonderful  item  its  possessor  paid  ;^i,ooo.  These 
"Post  Offices"  are  the  ones  which  in  1910  carried 
the  record  price  for  this  popular  pair  of  rarities 
up  to  ;^3,500.  Mr.  Duveen's  Switzerland  collec- 
tion is  also  a  very  notable  one,  and  contains  the 
block  of  double  Genevas,  and  the  part  sheet  of 
"large  Eagles"  from  the  Avery  collection,  and 
the  beautiful  block  of  fifteen  Basle  "doves,"  which 
was  the  subject  of  a  recent  find  in  Berne.  Baron 
Anthony  de  Worms  is  the  owner  of  a  fine  collec- 
tion of  Great  Britain  and  the  collection  par 
excellence  of  Ceylon.  Mr.  Harvey  R.  G.  Clarke's 
collection  of  New  South  Wales  is  justly  celebrated, 
and  in  the  less  costly  countries  the  honours  of 
possessing  the  most  perfect  collections  are  dis- 
tributed by  no  means  exclusively  among  the  very 
wealthy.  In  stamp-collecting  the  personal  search 
is  often  more  productive  than  lavish  expenditure 
without  personal  effort. 

In  America   there  are  some  collections  of  great 
note.    That   of  Mr.   George   H.   Worthington    has 


i  iiA<\,', 


t'i'/'  /  , /f/i 


^ 


»v. 


^^ 


THE  UNIQUE  BLOCK  OF  THE  "DOUBLE  GENEVA"  STAMP,  THE  RAREST  OF  THE  SWISS 

"CANTONALS." 

Formerly  in  the  ^'  Avery''   Collection^  but  now  in  the  possession  of  Henry  /.  Duveen,  Esq 


291 


XJ 

SJ 

O 

"§ 

^ 

•1?* 

0 

ss 

z 

1 

•v 

o 

. 

e 

c^ 

5-v'      V 

^tV 

$   5 

«^ 

5^ 

f  •^■ 

'^^  5 

<^ 

■^-<'»' 

o 

o 

i  1 

^  s 

■  1 

o 

-*-• 

-     § 

§^^ 

*> 

-li 

0 

>:  ;l 

■  ■>    ^ 

^-^•3 

'^  "^ 

5    ^ 

^1 

s  1 

s  '^ 

O 

^^ 

^ 

s  § 

»5    5 

^ 

^  '^ 

FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS  295 

been  referred  to  elsewhere.  Mr.  Henry  J.  Crocker, 
a  San  Francisco  magnate,  had  the  misfortune  to 
lose  about  ;^  15,000  worth  of  his  stamps  in  the 
disastrous  fire  which  followed  the  earthquake  of 
1906.  This  included  eleven  out  of  forty-three  of  his 
albums,  but  luckily  his  greatest  work,  the  Hawaiian 
collection,  was  safely  in  England  at  the  time  of 
the  catastrophe.  A  wonderful  collection  of  Japanese 
was  completely  destroyed.  Mr.  Crocker  has  no 
fewer  than  sixteen  of  the  Hawaiian  "  Missionaries"  ; 
outside  of  the  British  Museum,  his  is  the  only  copy 
of  the  2  cents.  Type  I. ;  he  has  four  used  copies 
of  the  5  cents,  two  of  them  being  on  the  entire 
envelopes  ;  and  there  is  a  unique  item  in  an 
unbroken  strip  of  three  1 3  cents  "  Hawaiian 
Postage  "  on  entire.  Two  of  the  stamps  are  Type  L 
and  the  other  Type  H. ;  he  has  also  an  unused  and 
two  used  copies  of  each  type.  Of  the  "  H.I.  &  U.S. 
Postage"  13  cents  stamp  there  are  two  specimens, 
one  of  each  type  used  together.^ 

Of  other  American  collections,  that  of  Mr.  Francis 
C.  Foster,  of  Boston,  impressed  me  as  much  as  any 
that  I  have  seen  across  the  Atlantic.  Mr.  Foster 
has  been  interested  in  stamps  probably  longer  than 
any  other  living  collector  in  the  United  States,  and 
his  collection  now  comprises  the  United  States, 
the  possessions,  and  British  North  America.  In 
the  general  issues  of  the  Republic  he  has  a  superb 
set    of  the  premieres  gravures^   and    all    the   early 

^  See  further  "  Postage  Stamps  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  in  the 
Collection  of  Henry  J.  Crocker,"  described  and  illustrated  by  Fred 
J.  Melville,  London,  1908. 


296       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

issues  are  extensively  shown,  together  with  the 
beautiful  proofs  and  essays  associated  with  them. 
The  Confederate  States  Postmasters'  stamps 
include  the  5c.  Athens  used  on  the  envelope  ;  the 
5c.  and  IOC  Goliad ;  and  the  Livingston,  Alabama. 
The  late  Mr.  Thorne,  an  old  New  York  collector, 
showed  me  his  collection  in  1906,  which  was  of 
great  proportions  and  was  exclusively  composed 
of  blocks  of  four,  a  state  in  which  he  had  the 
greatest  difficulty  in  obtaining  even  many  modern 
stamps.  His  collection,  or  some  of  it,  has  been 
disposed  of  by  auction  in  America.  The  late 
Mr.  J.  F.  Seybold,  of  Syracuse,  had  the  credit  of 
fostering  the  cult  of  collecting  the  used  stamps  on 
the  entire  envelope  or  letter,  which  from  the  his- 
torical point  of  view  is  extremely  useful.  His 
collection,  however,  was  bought  for  about  ;^5,ooo 
by  Mr.  J.  T.  Coit,  and  subsequently  realised  nearly 
£7^000  at  auction. 

Of  the  great  collections  of  the  Continent,  that  of 
M.  Philippe  la  R^notiere  is  the  greatest  ever  brought 
together,  but  its  owner  has  not  been  in  the  habit  of 
exhibiting  it,  and  the  number  of  living  philatelists 
who  have  seen  even  portions  of  it  must  be  extremely 
few.  He  has  certainly  got  together  in  the  aggregate 
a  collection  greater  than  the  Tapling  one,  and  he  has 
absorbed  in  the  process  the  albums  of  Sir  Daniel 
Cooper  and  Judge  Philbrick,  and  has  had  the  pick  of 
all  the  greatest  collections  which  have  come  on  the 
market  for  many  years.  It  was  estimated  years  ago 
that  he  must  have  spent  a  quarter  of  a  million  of 
money  on   the  collection,^   and  as  he  commenced 

»  "The  Stamp  Collector,"  by  W.  J.  Hardy  and  E.  D.  Bacon,  1897. 


/>,.    / 


.^^  \  ^'^ 


I    %#^^fif$i. 


A  PAGE   OF  THE   5    CENTS  AND    I3   CENTS  I  HAWAIIAN    "^MISSIONARY " 

STAMPS. 

{From  the  ''^Crocker''''  Collection^ 
297 


\.< 


4 


FAMOUS  COLLECTIONS  301 

about  1864,  the  extent  of  his  treasures  has  brought 
him  to  be  regarded  as  a  philatelic  Comte  de  Monte 
Cristo.  The  unique  British  Guiana  i  cent  stamp 
of  1856  is  in  this  collection,  together  with  five  Post 
Office  Mauritius,  including  one  of  the  two  known 
copies  of  the  id.  unused.  Other  great  rarities  are 
mostly  represented  by  several  copies. 

The  collection  of  the  late  M.  Paul  Mirabaud,  a 
wealthy  Parisian  banker,  was  exceptional  for  the 
beauty  of  the  condition  of  the  stamps  it  contained, 
and  at  the  auction  sale  many  of  the  stamps  fetched 
prices  much  beyond  the  standard  quotations  of  the 
catalogues.  The  Swiss  portion,  which  formed  the 
basis  of  a  most  sumptuously  illustrated  work  written 
in  collaboration  by  M.  Mirabaud  and  the  Baron  A. 
de  Reuterskiold,  was  sold  privately. 

The  following  synopsis  of  the  chief  sales  of 
collections  (whether  by  auction  or  privately)  covers 
only  those  which  are  known  to  have  realised 
£\,0QO  and  upwards;  there  are  many  more  which 
have  doubtless  been  sold  for  amounts  well  into  four 
figures,  but  the  transactions,  or  at  any  rate  the 
amounts,  have  not  been  disclosed.  The  amounts 
given  below  must  not  in  every  case  be  taken  as  the 
exact  purchase  price ;  where  not  exact  they  are 
approximate. 


302       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 


Year. 

Collection. 

Character. 

Amount. 

1878 

Cooper. 

General. 

£ 
3>ooo 

1882 

Philbrick. 

General. 

8,000 

1882 

Image. 

General. 

3,000 

1885 

Burnett. 

General. 

1,000 

1890 

Caillebotte. 

General. 

5,000 

1891 

Colman. 

British  Colonies. 

2,000 

1894 

Winzer. 

General. 

3,000 

1894 

Castle. 

Australia. 

10,000 

1894 

Philbrick. 

Great  Britain. 

1,500 

189s 

Harrison. 

United  States. 

1,330 

1895 

Harbeck. 

General. 

3,000 

189s 

W.  Cooper. 

General. 

1895 

J.  E.  Wilbey. 

General. 

— 

1896 

Hughes-Hughes. 

General. 

3,000 

1896 

Ehrenbach. 

Germany. 

6,000 

1896 

Earl  of  Kingston. 

British  Empire. 

1,800 

1896-7 

Blest. 

New  South  Wales,  New  Zea- 
land, and  Queensland. 

4,750 

1897 

F.  W.  Ayer. 

General  (dispersed  gradually). 

45,000 

1897 

Dr.  Legrand. 

Part  of  General. 

12,000 

1898 

Russell. 

General    (unused,    strong    in 
British  Colonies). 

4,600 

1898 

H.  L.  Hayman. 

General. 

4,000 

1899 

Pauwels. 

General. 

4,000 

1900 

M.  P.  Castle. 

Europe. 

27,500 

1901 

W.  T.  Willett. 

Great  Britain  (with  Nevis). 

2,000 

1902 

Major-Gen.      Lamb- 
ton. 
C.  Hollander. 

British  Colonies. 

3,400 

1902 

South  Africa. 

1,500 

1903 

J.  N.  Marsden. 

General. 

2,350 

1903 

E.  J.  Nankivell. 

Transvaal. 

3,000 

1904 

P.  Fabri. 

General. 

3,000 

1904 

A  titled  collector. 

Selection  of  great  rarities. 

4,700 

1904 

Prince    Doria    Pam- 

philj. 
M.  P.  Castle. 

General. 

2,000 

1905 

Australia. 

5»75o 

1906 

W.  W.  Mann. 

Europe. 

30,000 

1906 

A.  Bagshawe. 

Straits  Settlements. 

2,000 

1907 

V.  Roberts. 

Cape  Colony,  Queensland,  &c. 

3,800 

1907 

Tomson. 

West  Indies. 

6,800 

1908 

P.  Mirabaud. 

(Switzerland,  ;^8,ooo 

( Rest  of  Collection,  j^22,ooo  j 

30,000 

1909 

Sir  W.  B.  Avery. 

General. 

24,500 

1909 

J.  W.  Paul,  jun. 

General. 

11,400 

1909 

J.  F.  Seybold. 

General. 

S,(:)<K» 

1911 

Miguel  Gambin. 

Argentina. 

6,000 

ROYAL  AND 

NATIONAL 

COLLECTIONS 


CHAPTER  X 

ROYAL  AND   NATIONAL  COLLECTIONS 

The  late  Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha  as  a  collector — King  George's 
stamps :  Great  Britain,  Mauritius,  British  Guiana,  Barbados, 
Nevis — The  "  King  of  Spain  Reprints  " — The  late  Grand  Duke 
Alexis  Michaelovitch — Prince  Doria  Pamphilj — The  "Tapling" 
Collection — The  Berlin  Postal  Museum — The  late  Duke  of 
Leinster's  bequest  to  Ireland — Mr.  Worthington's  promised  gift 
to  the  United  States. 

Royalties  have  been  included  amongst  collectors 
almost  from  the  beginning  of  Philately.  The  late 
Mr.  Westoby,  in  describing  ^  a  number  of  rarities 
in  private  albums  in  Paris  in  1869,  includes  a 
mysterious  rarity  of  Mexico  as  being  one  of  which 
three  specimens  only  are  known  to  exist,  "one 
of  them  [i.e.,  one  of  the  remaining  two]  in  the 
possession  of  the  Princess  Clotilde,  wife  of  the 
Prince  Napoleon,  and  the  other  in  that  of  the 
King  of  Portugal." 

King  George  V.  probably  owes  some  of  his  early 
enthusiasm  for  stamps  to  his  uncle,  the  late  Duke 
of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.  As  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  the 
latter  had  long  been  a  collector  before  the  fact  was 
made  publicly   known    by  his    cordial    support  of 

'  The  Philatelist y  vol.  iii.  pp.  85,  86. 
305 


306       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

the  London  Philatelic  Exhibition  of  1890,  which 
he  formally  opened.  At  the  lunch  which  followed 
the  ceremony  he  said : — 

"To-day  Prince  George  of  Wales  starts — nay, 
probably  has  started — from  Chatham  in  the  Thrush^ 
to  the  command  of  which  he  has  been  appointed. 
I  am  sure  you  will  join  me  in  wishing  him  a  prosper- 
ous and  pleasant  cruise.  He  also  is  a  stamp 
collector,  and  I  hope  that  he  will  return  with  a 
goodly  number  of  additions  from  North  America 
and  the  West  Indies.  I  am  a  collector,  too,  and 
I  have  been  only  too  glad  to  contribute  specimens 
to  this  fine  exhibition." 

The  newspaper  reports  of  that  Exhibition  state 
that  "The  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  before  leaving,  in- 
timated his  intention  of  again  visiting  this  marvellous 
proof  of  civilization  and  progress."  In  the  same 
year,  H.R.H.  became  Hon.  President  of  the  London 
Philatelic  Society. 

The  late  Duke's  collection  was,  I  believe,  on 
general  lines,  a  large  range  of  countries  and  colonies 
being  included  in  his  exhibits  at  the  Portman  Rooms 
in  1890.  These  included  a  fine  lot  of  Uruguay, 
and  displays  of  Cyprus,  Gibraltar,  Heligoland,  Ionian 
Islands,  and  Malta ;  Norway,  Denmark,  Iceland  and 
Sweden ;  Greece,  Servia,  Bulgaria  and  Montenegro ; 
Cuba,  Porto  Rico  and  Fernando  Po.  At  the 
1897  Exhibition,  at  the  galleries  of  the  Institute 
of  Painters  in  Water  Colours,  the  Duke  showed 
only  a  few  specimens  in  the  class  for  rare  stamps, 
his  exhibit  including  the  2  kreuzer,  orange,  of  Austria 
unused ;     the    54   paras    of    Moldavia ;    the    Half 


/«24: 


v^.f/X^    ^-^    /./^. 


^ 


f^   '4»;^^rAi^:-TO 


A   PAGE   FROM   THE ,  KING's    HISTORIC   COLLECTION   OF  THE  STAMPS  OF   GREAT 
BRITAIN,   SHOWING  THE  METHOD   OF   "WRITING  UP." 


307 


W/^  /?^rp^ 

//f  /T^^^  ^^ 

'^ 

K   Pu  /kc^ 

;i   A 

/ 

'^.. 

I               i^< 

f^ 

-^ 

' 

B  /^<^-<^//vt.<3TL^/^ 

/fr^ 

^••■•<i^ 

1 

y" 

A^ 

i 

J 

THE  THREE  COPIES  OF  THE  UNISSUED  2D.  "  TYRIAN-PLUM " 
STAMP  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  IN  THE  COLLECTION  OF 
H.M.   THE   KING. 

The  one  on  the  envelope  is  the  only  specimen  known  to 
have  passed  through  the  post. 


309 


ROYAL  AND  NATIONAL  COLLECTIONS  311 

Tornese  Naples,  cross,  unused  ;  several  of  the  rare 
2  reales  stamps  of  Spain  and  the  3  cuartos 
"  bear "  stamp  of  Madrid ;  the  Swedish  24  skill, 
bco,,  unused ;  the  so-called  "  Neuch^tel "  stamp 
of  Switzerland,  unused  ;  the  18  kreuzer  Wurtem- 
burg,  with  silk  thread,  unused;  Buenos  Ayres 
4  pesos,  red  ;  United  States,  1856,  5c.  red-brown 
and  90c.  blue,  perforated ;  and  some  other  rarities. 
Of  British  and  colonials  he  displayed  two  of  the 
id.  black  V.R.  stamps;  a  I2d.  black  of  Canada; 
Hong  Kong  96  cents,  yellow-brown  ;  a  small  show 
of  rare  Nevis,  including  the  6d.  lithographed  and 
the  surface-printed  6d.  green ;  St.  Vincent  5s.,  water- 
marked star,  unused  ;  an  unused  id.  Sydney  View, 
Plate  I.,  and  an  unused  6d.  "laureated  head." 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  wide  field  covered  by 
his  exhibits  that  the  philatelic  inclinations  of  the 
late  Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha  were  broadly 
catholic.  His  royal  nephew,  King  George,  has 
limited  his  collecting — though  not  his  interest — 
to  stamps  of  the  British  Empire.  His  Majesty's 
interest  in  stamp-collecting  has  been  made  popularly 
known  by  the  newspapers,  but  it  is  not  always 
realised,  I  think,  that  the  interest  is  an  appreciative 
personal  one.  Of  this  philatelists  have  had  many 
gracious  proofs.  The  King  is  understood  to  have 
been  consistently  collecting  since  his  midshipman- 
days  on  the  Bacchante^  and  his  collections  to  some 
extent  coincide  with  his  travels,  several  of  his  finest 
albums  being  those  which  contain  the  stamps  of 
West  Indian  colonies. 

There  is  little  collected  information  on  the  subject 
16 


312       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

of  His  Majesty's  collections,  so  I  will  endeavour 
to  outline  a  few  of  the  salient  points  in  those  sections 
which  have  been  most  nearly  completed. 

Great  Britain. — The  collection  contains  the  original 
sketch  of  W.  Mulready,  R.A.,  for  the  famous 
envelopes  and  letter  sheets  of  1840  to  which  reference 
has  been  made.* 

A  note  accompanies  it  to  the  effect  that,  "  From 
statements  made  by  Mr.  Mulready  to  his  friends, 
it  would  appear  that  the  original  idea  for  the  design 
was  given  to  him  by  Queen  Victoria  and  was  carried 
out  by  the  artist  in  accordance  with  Her  Majesty's 
suggestions." 

On  this  point  of  the  origin  of  the  design,  Sir 
Rowland  Hill's  journal  contains  an  entry  which 
scarcely  bears  out  the  legend  that  the  Queen  devised 
the  idea  together  with  the  Prince  Consort.  The 
entry,  under  April  3,  1840,  is:  "Mr.  B[aring] 
has  sent  a  proof  impression  of  the  cover  stamp  to 
the  Queen,  with  a  memorandum  from  Mulready  and 
Thompson  [the  engraver]  explanatory  of  the 
design." 

Then  there  is  the  historic  pair  of  sketches  in  water- 
colours,  roughly  executed  by  Sir  Rowland  Hill 
to  show  the  approximate  appearance  of  the  penny 
stamp  in  black  and  the  twopence  stamp  in  blue. 
This  was  sent  by  Hill  to  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer. 

In  the  line-engraved  series,  His  Majesty  has  shown 
two  copies  of  the  id.  V.R.,  and  a  fine  series  of 
imperforates  of  the  id.  red.  Die  I.  and  Die  H.,  in 
*  Ante^  p.  167. 


»      ■•       •■»■•*.». 


DESIGN   FOR  THE   KING  EDWARD   ONE   PENNY  STAMP  APPROVED   AND 
INITIALLED   BY   HIS  LATE   MAJESTY. 

•  I  {From  the  collection  of  H.M.  King  George  V.) 


313 


•   ■••'*.*. 


THE  COMPANION  DESIGN  TO  THAT  ON  PAGE  313,  AND  SHOWING  THE 
CORRECT  POSE  OF  THE  HEAD,  BUT  IX  A  DIFFERENT  FRAME,  WHICH 
WAS  NOT  ADOPTED. 

{From  the  collection  of  H.M.  the  King.) 


315 


ROYAL  AND  NATIONAL  COLLECTIONS  317 

a  large  range  of  shades  ;  id.  red  with  letters  in  all 
four  corners  (plates  132  and  225) ;  id.  red,  in  a  pair, 
on  Dickinson  paper ;  Jd.  rose-red  (plate  9),  2d.  blue 
with  four  letters  (including  plate  7),  ijd.,  plate  i 
in  bluish  lake  and  plate  3  in  brick-red. 

All  the  Victorian  surface- printed  series  are  shown 
imperforate,  including  the  3d.  with  reticulated  back- 
ground ;  3d.,  plate  3  ("  dot ") ;  4d.  in  lake,  water- 
marked "  small  garter  " ;  6d.,  plate  i  on  safety  paper 
and  plate  3  with  hair-lines ;  Qd.,  plate  3  with  hair- 
lines and  plate  5  ;  lod.,  plate  2  ;  is.,  plate  i  on  safety 
paper,  plate  3  with  hair-lines,  4  in  an  unissued  colour, 
lilac ;  2s.,  plate  3 ;  los.,  £if  and  £^  on  blue  paper. 

In  addition  to  the  scarce  items  in  the  Victorian 
series  of  official  stamps,  the  King  possesses  the 
extremely  rare  I.R.  Official  5s.,  los.  and  £1,  of 
the  Edwardian  issues,  in  mint  corner  pairs ;  also 
the  almost  unique  Sixpence  of  the  same  set,  in 
similar  condition.  Of  this  last  stamp,  no  other 
unused  copy  is  known,  and  only  three  which  have 
been  through  the  post. 

Of  the  ordinary  stamps  of  King  Edward's  reign, 
the  Royal  collection  contains  several  essays  and 
proofs  of  great  interest.  A  photograph  of  a  stamp 
made  up  from  Herr  FUchs's  original  sketch  of  King 
Edward's  head,  enclosed  in  the  newly  designed 
frame  and  border,  deservedly  comes  first,  and  bears 
the  late  King's  written  approval :  from  this, 
temporary  copper-plates  were  engraved,  so  that 
the  effect  might  be  noted,  and  three  proofs  there- 
from are  included. 

Unfortunately,  the  final   result  did  not  come  up 


318       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

to  the  anticipated  standard,  and  there  was  some 
talk  about  having  a  fresh  design  prepared,  after 
the  style  of  the  then  new  Transvaal  stamps,  but 
this  fell  through  on  the  ground  of  expense ;  proofs 
of  this  also  are  in  the  collection,  together  with  various 
colour-trials  of  the  One  Penny  value,  as  adopted. 

Of  unissued  stamps  during  the  late  reign,  there 
are  only  three  instances  :  the  £s  value,  which  did 
not  proceed  so  far  as  the  completion  of  the  plate ; 
and  a  small  printing  of  the  Twopence  Halfpenny,  in 
the  adopted  design,  but  in  mauve  on  blue  paper, 
was  destroyed,  owing  to  a  decision  to  print  in 
blue  on  white  paper.  Both  these  stamps,  the  £$ 
and  the  Twopence  Halfpenny  mauve  on  blue,  together 
with  proofs  of  the  lower  value  in  shades  and  tones 
of  blue,  are  in  the  King's  collection. 

The  last  of  the  unissued  stamps  is  the  Twopence 
"  Tyrian-plum,"  which,  owing  to  the  lamented  death 
of  King  Edward,  the  authorities  decided  not  to 
issue ;  his  present  Majesty  possesses  an  unused  pair, 
and  a  unique  used  copy  on  the  original  envelope. 

Beyond  these,  the  collection  contains  proofs  of  the 
contractors'  designs  for  three  of  the  new  stamps,  the 
One  Penny  in  four  types  of  head  and  bust,  in 
the  old  frame  of  the  1881  stamp,  and  the  Twopence 
and  Fivepence  in  frames  similar  to  those  of  the  1887 
issue ;  in  all  these  King  Edward  is  shown  in  military 
uniform,  the  best  of  these  being,  so  far  as  the  portrait 
is  concerned,  the  Fivepence. 

A  curiosity,  for  it  was  not  for  issue  except  after 
severance,  is  the  sheet  of  one  penny  stamps  as 
prepared  for  the  booklets  on  sale  at  the  post-office— 


i 


'*':.*,  **.  ».   »  •»     * 


A  PAGE  OF  THE  ONE  PENNY  "  POST  PAID  "   STAMPS  OF  MAURITIUS. 
{/n  the  collection  of  H.M.  the  King.) 


ROYAL  AND  NATIONAL  COLLECTIONS  321 

for  convenience  in  making-up  and  binding  these 
small  books,  the  stamps  were  specially  printed  in 
four  panes  of  sixty  each,  in  vertical  rows  of  ten, 
each  alternate  three  rows  being  inverted,  and  so 
producing  a  certain  number  of  tete-beche  pairs.  King 
George's  sheet  is,  outside  the  printers'  establishment 
and  Somerset  House,  probably  unique. 

Mauritius. — In  the  stamps  of  this  colony  the 
royal  collection  is  particularly  strong.  There  is 
here  the  id.  red  Post  Office  used,  which  came 
from  Mr.  Peckitt  out  of  the  collection  of  the 
Earl  of  Kintore  for  ;£"850,  and  the  matchless 
unused  copy  of  the  2d.  blue  which  was  purchased 
in  Messrs.  Puttick  &  Simpson's  saleroom  on  January 
14, 1904,  for  £i,\^o :  it  is  admittedly  the  finest  known 
copy  of  this  stamp,  and  its  romantic  history  has  been 
alluded  to  in  Chapter  VII.  These  two  rarcs  aves  are 
followed  by  a  grand  display  of  the  Post  Paid  series, 
including  three  fine  2d.  unused,  one  with  the  error 
"  PENOE  "  for  "  PENCE,"  and  a  wonderful  mint  block 
of  five,  containing  the  error  se  tenant  with  four  of  its 
neighbours  in  the  sheet.  This  block  is  a  com- 
paratively recent  acquisition,  having  been  acquired 
from  Mr.  D.  Field  for  ;£'500  in  19 10.  There  is  a 
considerable  number  of  used  copies  showing  all  states 
of  the  plates  of  the  1848  issue,  the  small  head  of 
1849,  and  the  "fillet"  of  October,  1859.  The  4d. 
green  of  April,  1854,  is  represented  unused  and  used, 
and  there  is  also  an  unused  copy  of  the  perforated 
IS.  deep  green  of  1862.  The  collection  of  this  colony 
is  practically  complete  from  beginning  to  date. 

British  Guiana  presents  probably  the  most  difficult 


322       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

set  of  stamps  that  any  collector  ever  attempted  to 
get  together.  The  King's  collection  is  representative, 
but  is  strongest  in  the  issues  of  1860-82 :  they 
formed  the  basis  of  a  display  before  the  Royal 
Philatelic  Society  on  March  17,  19 10,  and  included 
most  of  the  stamps  in  a  wide  range  of  shades,  all  the 
rarities  being  present,  unused,  except  the  24  cents  per- 
forated 1 2  of  1 860  on  thin  paper,  and  the  provisional 
series  of  1862,  and  a  few  of  the  "  officials."  The  used 
portion  was  practically  complete,  and  in  the  case  of 
the  1882  provisionals  there  were  entire  and  also 
reconstructed  sheets,  showing  all  the  varieties. 

The  Barbados  collection,  which  was  shown  by  His 
Majesty  at  the  Imperial  Stamp  Exhibition  held  by 
the  Junior  Philatelic  Society  in  London  in  1908,  was 
exceptionally  rich  in  the  scarce  "  id."  on  5s.  pro- 
visional, of  which  there  were  no  fewer  than  a  pair 
and  two  single  copies,  four  in  all,  in  the  unused 
condition,  and  five  used  pairs  and  a  number  of  single 
used  copies. 

Hong  Kong  and  Grenada^  Bermuda^  Trinidad  and 
Turks'  Islands  have  also  been  arranged  and  exhibited, 
as  well  as  a  small  but  choice  collection  of  the  stamps 
of  Nevis^  which  contains,  among  other  items,  the 
beautiful  card  proofs  of  the  first  id.  in  green,  4d.  in 
dull  purple,  6d.  in  orange,  and  is.  in  lake.  There  are 
two  reconstructed  sheets  of  the  id.  perforated  13, 
and  the  4d.  rose,  unused  ;  the  6d.  grey  and  is.  green, 
used  and  unused.  Of  the  1867  set  the  id.  is  shown 
unused,  the  4d.  both  used  and  unused  and  the  is, 
used.  Of  the  lithographs  there  are  four  mint  sheets 
of  the  id.,  a  mint  sheet  of  the  4d.  and  another  of 


»     J  3  J       9 


THE  TWO   PENCE   "POST   PAID"   vSTAMP   OF  MAURITIUS. 

^Unique  block  showing  the  error  (the  first  stamp  in  the 
illustration)  lettered  "penoe"  for  "  penxe". 

{In  the  collection  of  H.M.  the  King^ 


323 


ROYAL  AND  NATIONAL  COLLECTIONS  325 

the  6d.,  the  is.  in  h'ght  and  dark  green ;  and  there 
are  two  entire  sheets  of  the  id.  perforated  ii|. 

Comparatively  little  is  known  of  the  stamp-collec- 
tions of  other  monarchs,  but  both  King  Alfonso  of 
Spain  and  King  Manuel  are  known  to  have  formed 
collections  of  the  stamps  of  their  respective  realms. 
The  Spanish  King's  expressed  desire  to  add  the 
stamps  of  Portugal  to  his  collection  led  to  the 
reprinting  of  certain  of  the  obsolete  stamps  of  which 
the  dies  were  on  hand  at  the  Lisbon  Mint ;  these  are 
the  stamps  known  as  the  "  King  of  Spain  Reprints," 
a  complete  set  of  which  was  presented  by  King 
Manuel  to  the  Reference  Collection  of  the  Royal 
Philatelic  Society. 

His  Imperial  Highness  the  late  Grand  Duke 
Alexis  Michaelovitch  was  a  member  of  the  Philatelic 
Society.  His  early  death  lost  to  Philately  a  collector 
with  a  keen  sense  of  the  beauty  of  condition. 
Although  only  nineteen  at  the  time  of  his  death,  he 
had  been  engaged  for  some  years  on  a  semi-official 
work  on  the  history  of  the  postal  issues  of  Russia, 
and  his  collection  was  strong  in  the  stamps  of  his 
own  country  and  in  Russian  proofs  and  essays.  His 
collection  covered  a  very  broad  field,  and  he  acquired 
the  Peru  section  of  the  Koster  collection  en  bloc. 
When  the  first  Castle  collection  of  Australians  came 
on  the  market,  the  young  Grand  Duke  acquired  a 
number  of  its  choicest  copies,  including  some  plated 
items.  Some  of  the  rarities  he  showed  in  London  on 
the  occasion  of  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
Philatelic  Society  (1894)  were  brilliant  used  copies 
of  the  2  reales  Spain  of  1851  and   1852  ;  the  Poste 


326       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Locale  of  Switzerland  unused  ;  the  "  i  Pranc  ",  error 
for"  I  Franc",  on  the  37j-centime  bistre,  Luxemburg; 
the  Hanover  lo  gr.  used  ;  Oldenburg  ^  gr.  black  on 
green ;  Nevis  6d.  lithographed  (in  two  shades) ; 
Trinidad  1858  6d.  and  is.  unused;  Uruguay,  Dili- 
gencias  60c.  and  80c.  unused ;  entire  sheets  of 
Bergedorf  essays  in  green  of  all  values ;  and  a 
beautiful  and  much  admired  group  of  thirty-two 
Russian  essays. 

Prince  Doria  Pamphilj,  of  Italy,  is  another  of  the 
devotees  of  the  "  royal "  hobby  of  stamp- collecting, 
and  his  British  Empire  collection  contained  an 
Archer  roulette  and  many  choice  items  in  English 
and  colonial  stamps.  Of  the  stamps  of  other 
countries  he  has  also  had  a  very  comprehensive 
collection ;  and  at  the  Manchester  Exhibition  of 
1899  he  displayed  some  rarities  of  these,  including 
the  United  States  1861  30  cents  with  grille,  and  the 
1869  15  cents  with  frame  inverted;  the  5  cents 
Confederate  local  of  Petersburg;  Spain,  185 1  10 
reales  unused  and  2  reales  used,  1865  12c.  with 
inverted  frame ;  France,  1 849  i  franc  vermilion ; 
the  double  Geneva,  types  of  the  Zurich,  the  4c. 
Vaud  and  the  Poste  Locale  2J  rappen  with  cross 
unframed  in  used  condition.  The  Prince  has  made  a 
speciality  of  the  Italian  States.  Although  His  Royal 
Highness  sold  his  chief  collection  in  1904  for  £2,000^ 
he  is,  I  understand,  still  to  be  numbered  amongst  the 
active  philatelists. 

Of  National  collections.  Great  Britain  possesses  the 
finest,  in  the  bequest  of  the  late  Mr.  T.  K.  Tapling, 
M.P.     Mr.  Tapling  died  in  1891,  and  since  then  the 


•      J       •  •  J  . 


11   ■  I  ■ 


m  I 


■ 


A  SPECIMEN   PAGE   FROM   THE   "TAPLIXG"    COLLECTION  AT  THE   BRITISH 

MUSEUM. 

Probably  the  most  valuable  page,  showing  the  Hawaiian  "  Mis<^ion- 
aries."  The  two  stamps  at  the  top  have  been  removed  from 
the  cases,  and  are  now  kept  in  a  safe  in  the  "Cracherode"  Room. 


327 


ROYAL  AND  NATIONAL  COLLECTIONS  329 

great  collection  which  he  had  formed  of  the  postage- 
stamps  and  postal  stationery  of  the  world  has  been 
arranged  for  exhibition  purposes,  in  specially  con- 
structed cases,  in  the  King's  Library  of  the  British 
Museum.  It  is  estimated  to  contain  100,000 
specimens,  the  total  market  value  of  which  would 
probably  not  be  much  short  of  ;^ioo,ooo.  Since  the 
complete  collection  has  been  available  to  the  public 
for  inspection,  there  has  been  no  one  feature  at  the 
Bloomsbury  institution  which  has  attracted  more 
visitors;  and  it  is  good  to  know  that  philatelic 
students  are  freely  using  the  magnificent  oppor- 
tunities the  collection  offers  for  study.  Unfortu- 
nately, there  is  no  comprehensive  official  guide  to 
this  important  collection,  but  by  the  courtesy  and 
assistance  of  the  officials  I  was  able  to  compile  a 
fairly  detailed  index  ^  to  its  beauties,  which  was 
published,  together  with  a  history  of  the  formation  of 
the  collection,  by  Messrs.  Lawn  &  Barlow.  To  detail 
the  gems  is  but  to  recount  the  Mauritius,  the  British 
Guianas,  the  Hawaiians  (these  are  particularly  fine), 
the  Moldavias,  Newfoundlands,  Reunions,  &c.,  to 
most  of  which  frequent  reference  has  already  been 
made  in  these  pages.  There  is  here  one  of  the 
copies  of  the  famous  Fourpence  blue  of  Western 
Australia  with  the  centre  inverted.  Unfortunately 
the  copy  is  a  damaged  one,  but  the  stamp  is  rarer 
than  the  Mauritius  "Post  Office,"  and  a  celebrated 
and  fine  copy  fetched  ^^"400  at  auction. 

It  is  a  very  real  misfortune  to  Philately  that  the 

'  ''The  Tapling  Collection  of  Stamps  and  Postal  Stationery  at  the 
British  Museum,"  by  Fred  J.  Melville. 


330       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Trustees  of  the  British  Museum  have  taken  no  steps 
to  continue  the  collection  beyond  1890,  or  to  add 
items  which  are  lacking  prior  to  that  date.  It  is,  I 
understand,  simply  a  question  of  money,  and  the 
Trustees  would  not  be  unwilling  to  allow  the 
necessary  space  for  the  growth  of  the  collection  if 
money  were  forthcoming  for  that  purpose.  It  is 
now  twenty  years  since  Mr.  Tapling  died,  and  the 
loss  of  that  period  in  the  collection  is  almost  irre- 
trievable. Yet  the  collection  as  it  stands  is  the  most 
comprehensive  treasure  store  of  the  first  half  century 
of  stamp-issuing,  and  students  in  this  country  are 
fortunate  indeed  in  having  such  a  wealth  of  material 
at  their  disposal  for  comparison  and  for  reference. 

The  collection  which  has  been  formed  by  the 
authorities  of  the  Berlin  Postal  Museum  has  been 
attaining  a  high  rank  in  recent  years.  The  Museum, 
which  is  the  finest  repository  of  postal  records  and 
curios  in  the  world,  was  founded  by  Dr.  von  Stephan, 
the  first  Director  of  the  Posts  of  the  German  Empire, 
and  the  first  to  propose  the  use  of  post-cards.  The 
stamp  collection  was  based  at  first  on  the  stamps 
received  at  the  General  Post  Office  in  Berlin  from 
the  postal  administrations  of  other  countries.  But 
the  collection  is  being  built  up  on  philatelic  lines, 
and  is  not  to  be  compared  with  the  fancy  frames 
devised  by  decorative  fiends  for  the  postal  museums 
of  other  countries.  In  Berlin  the  collection  shows 
essays  and  proofs,  those  of  the  old  German  States 
being  particularly  fine,  and  most  of  the  prominent 
rarities  have  been  acquired,  chiefly  by  exchange  of 
duplicate    stamps.      There    is   the    id.   Post   Office 


ROYAL  AND  NATIONAL  COLLECTIONS  331 

Mauritius  used,  and  the  2d.  unused ;  the  2  cents 
circular  British  Guiana,  the  2  cents,  5  cents,  and 
both  types  of  the  13  cents  of  the  Hawaiian 
"  Missionaries " ;  pairs  of  the  27  paras  and  108 
paras  of  Moldavia,  and  a  set  of  the  27,  81,  and  two 
of  the  108  paras  all  cut  round,  and  all  used  together 
on  one  envelope ;  the  woodblock  errors  of  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  ;  the  1 5  cents  and  30  cents  Reunion  ; 
and  a  wonderful  range  of  the  stamps  of  all  the 
German  States. 

The  late  Duke  of  Leinster  left  his  valuable  collec- 
tion to  the  Irish  National  Museum ;  and  there  are 
several  instances  of  bequests  and  gifts  of  lesser 
importance  to  local  museums.  In  1910  Mr.  George 
H.  Worthington,  the  owner  of  the  finest  collection  in 
the  United  States,  made  the  announcement  that  he 
was  going  to  leave  his  great  collection  to  the  city  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Mr.  Worthington  may  be 
spared  to  continue  his  collection  for  many  years  to 
come,  but  on  the  ultimate  fulfilment  of  the  bequest 
the  people  of  the  United  States  will  enjoy  the  public 
possession  of  what  is  now  one  of  the  three  largest 
collections  in  the  world.  Mr.  Worthington's  gems 
include  most  of  the  well-known  rarities.  He  has  the 
Cape  woodblock  4d.  error  in  a  block  with  three  of  the 
id.  stamps  all  in  red,  and  his  entire  collection  of 
Capes  is  extremely  fine.  Like  most  of  the  larger 
collections  in  America,  the  Worthington  one  contains 
a  strong  showing  of  the  Hawaiian  stamps  and  of  the 
United  States  and  Confederate  States  "  Postmasters' " 
stamps.     There  is,  for  example,  the  only  known   2 


332       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

cents  Hawaiian  "Missionary"  on  envelope.  Mr. 
Warren  H.  Colson,^  of  Boston,  records  that  Mr. 
Worthington  prizes  highly  the  only  unused  copy 
known  of  the  United  States  15  cents  of  1869  with 
the  inverted  frame,  and  as  a  companion  treasure  he 
has  the  30  cents  in  like  condition,  but  of  this  three 
other  unused  copies  are  recorded. 

The  Confederate  Postmasters'  Provisionals,  I  gather 
from  the  same  authority,  include  all  the  rare  Baton 
Rouge ;  a  10  cent  Beaumont,  on  pink  paper  ;  the 
Emory,  Va. ;  Grove  Hill,  Alabama  ;  the  rare  Macons 
and  a  particularly  fine  lot  of  the  Texas  locals,  in- 
cluding several  Goliads,  the  Helena,  and  two  very 
rare  Victorias. 

The  id.  Post  Office  Mauritius  is  included  in  two 
copies  used  on  the  entire  envelope;  the  Sydney 
Views  are  a  splendid  lot,  and  include  a  superb  unused 
block  of  four  of  the  id.  plate  i  with  original  gum. 

*  "  Postage  Stamps  and  their  Collection,"  by  Warren  H.  Colson, 
Boston,  1907. 


A  SHORT 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
OF 
PHILATELY 


A  SHORT   BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  PHILATELY 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Catalogue  of  the  Philatelic  Library  of  the  Earl  of  Crawford,  K.T. 

By  E.  D.  Bacon.    London,  191 1. 

*.•  This  work  constitutes  the  most  complete  Bibliography  of 

the  literature  of  Philately,  giving  entries  for  all  known 

printed  books  and  pamphlets  published  up  to  1908,  and 

all  periodicals  up  to  1907. 

The  following  short  Bibliography  is  a  handy  practical  guide  to 
the  standard  reference  works  on  the  special  subject,  and  includes 
the  handbooks  and  monographs  issued  up  to  191 1. 

GENERAL  HANDBOOKS 

The  A  B  C  of  Stamp  Collecting :  A  Guide  to  the  Instructive  and 

Entertaining  Study  of  the  World's  Postage  Stamps.    By 

Fred  J.  Melville.     London,  1903.    *.•  Nineteen  plates. 
A  Colour  Dictionary.    By  B.  W.  Warhurst.    2nd  ed.    London^ 

1908. 
Hints  on  Stamp  Collecting.    By  T.  H.  Hinton.    3rd  ed.    London^ 

1908. 
How  to  Collect  Postage  Stamps.    By  B.  T.  K.  Smith.    London, 

1907.    '.*  Forty-eight  plates. 
How  to  Start  a  Philatelic  Society.    By  Fred  J.  Melville.    London, 

1910. 
A  Penny  All  the  Way.    The  Story  of  Penny  Postage.    By  Fred 

J.  Melville.    2nd  ed,     London,  1908. 
Postage  Stamps  worth  Fortunes.    By  Fred  J.  Melville.    2nd  ed. 

London,  1908. 
The  Romance  of  Postage  Stamps.    (An  Introductory  Lecture.)    By 

Fred  J.  Melville.    London,  1910. 
The  Stamp  Collector.    By  W.  J.  Hardy  and  E.  D.  Bacon.    Lon^ 

don,  1898.    •••  Twelve  plates. 


336       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

stamps  and  Stamp  Collecting  :  A  Glossary  of  Philatelic  Terms  and 
Guide  to  the  Identification  of  the  Postage  Stamps  of  all 
Nations.    By  E.  B.  Evans.    London,  1894. 

What  Philately  Teaches.  (A  Lecture  delivered  February  24, 1899.) 
By  J.  N.  Luff.    New  York,  1899. 

GENERAL  CATALOGUE  (NOT  PRICED) 

A  Catalogue  for  Advanced  Collectors  of  Postage  Stamps,  Stamped 
Envelopes,  and  Wrappers.  Compiled  from  the  most  recent 
authorities  and  individual  research.  By  H.  C.  Collin  and 
H.  L.  Caiman.  New  York,  1890-1901.  *.•  Two  hundred 
and  forty-six  plates. 

GENERAL  CATALOGUES  (PRICED) 

These  are  current,  general,  illustrated  and  priced  lists  of  the 
world's    postage-stamps,     briefly   indicated    under    the 
country  of  publication  and  under  publisher's  name. 
Great  Britain.    Stanley  Gibbons,  Ltd.  ;  Bright  &  Son  ;  Whitfield 

King  &  Co.  ;  D.  Field  (Colonials). 
America.    Scott  Stamp  and  Coin  Company  ;  Stanley  Gibbons,  Inc. 
France.    Catalogue    Officiel  de  la    Societe  Fran^aise  de  Tim- 
brologie  ;  Yvert  et   Tellier  ;  Lemaire ;  Bernichon  ;  Mon- 
tader  ;  &c. 
Germany.    Gebriider  Senf ;  Paul  Kohl,  Ltd. 
Spain.    Galvez. 

COLLECTIONS 

The  Catalogues  of  Stamp  Exhibitions  held  in  London,  the 
Provinces,  and  abroad  are   useful  for  succinct  accounts 
of  numerous  Collections  of  interest  and  importance.     I  do 
not,  however,  include  them  here,  nor  do  I  list  the  cata- 
logues of   auction  sales,  which  have  a  similar  reference 
value. 
The  Avery  Collection  of  the  Postage  Stamps  of  the  World.    By 
W.  H.  Peckitt.    London,  1909.     •.•  This  collection  was  sold 
after  the  death  of  Sir  William  Avery,  Bart.,  for  ;^24,5oo. 
Concise  Description  of  the  Collection  of  Essays  of  Martin  Schroe- 
der.     By   A.    Reinheimer.    Leipzig,  1903.     •.*  Seventy-two 
plates. 
(A  celebrated  Collection  of  historical  value,  brought  together 
between  the  years  1893  and  1902.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  PHILATELY     337 

Postage   Stamps  and  their  Collection.    By  Warren   H.   Colson. 
Boston,  Mass.,  1907.     '.♦  Seventeen  plates. 
(Chiefly  devoted  to  a  description  of  the  Collection  of  Dr.  Wil- 
liam C.  Bowers,  of  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  but  containing 
comparative  notes  on  other  American  Collections.) 

Postage  Stamps  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  in  the  Collection  of 
Henry  J.  Crocker,  of  San  Francisco.  By  Fred  J.  Mel- 
ville.    London,  1908.     •.•  Eight  plates. 

A  Priced  List  of  the  Rare  Stamps  in  the  "  Winzer  "  Collection. 
Stanley  Gibbons,  Ltd.     London,  1894. 
•••  A  fine  Collection  formed  by  Ernst  Winzer,  of   Dresden, 
and  sold  for  ;^3,ooo. 

The  Tapling  Collection  of  Stamps  and  Postal  Stationery  at  the 
British  Museum  :  A  Descriptive  Guide  and  Index,  with 
Portraits  and  Illustrations.  By  Fred  J.  Melville.  London, 
1905. 

SPECIAL   HANDBOOKS 

[For  grouped  Countries,  see  under  comprehensive  title,  e.g., 
Africa,  Australasia.] 

Abyssinia.    Abyssinia.    By  Fred  J.  Melville.    London,  1909. 

Afghanistan.  The  Postage  Stamps  of  Afghanistan.  By  [Sir] 
D.  P.  Masson  and  B.  G.  Jones.  Madras  and  Birmingham, 
1908.    *.'  Twenty-four  plates. 

Africa.  The  Postage  Stamps,  Envelopes,  Wrappers,  Post  Cards 
and  Telegraph  Stamps  of  the  British  Colonies,  Possessions 
and  Protectorates  in  Africa.  [The  Philatelic  Society,  Lon- 
don.] 

I.  British  Bechuanaland  to  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  London,  1895. 

•.  •  Eight  plates. 

II.  Gambia  to  Natal.      London,  1900.     •.  •  Fourteen  plates. 

III.  New    Republic  to   Zululand.     London,  1906.     •.•  Thirty 
plates. 

America.  The  Postage  Stamps,  Envelopes,  Wrappers,  and  Post 
Cards  of  the  North  American  Colonies  of  Great  Britain, 
[The  Philatelic  Society,  London.]  London,  1889.  '•"  Six 
plates. 

Argentina.    Sellos  postales  de  la  Confederacion  Argentina.    By 
J.  Marco  del  Pont.     Buenos  Aires,  1902.     •.•  Two  plates. 
Sellos  postales  de  la  Republica  Argentina.     (Emision  de  11  de 
Enero  de  1862.)     By  J.  Marco  del  Pont.    Buenos  Aires,  1895. 
Timbres  de  la  Republique  Argentine  et  de  ses  diverses  pro- 
vinces.    Two  vols.     By  J.  B.  Moens.     Bruxellcs,  1882. 

17 


338       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Valores  Postales  Argentines.    By  C.  Carles.    Buenos  Aires, 

1897,  1898. 
[The  work  is  of  a  semi-official  character,  containing  specimen 

("muestra")    copies  of   the  Stamps   accompanied   by  the 

official  decrees  relating  to  their  issue.] 
Asia.    The  Stamp  Designs  of  Eastern  Asia.    By  C.  A.  Howes. 

New  York,  1905. 
Australasia.    The  Postage  Stamps,  Envelopes,  and  Post  Cards  of 

Australia   and   the    British    Colonies   of    Oceania.     [The 

Philatelic  Society,  London.]    London,  1887.    •••  Thirty-one 

plates. 
AUSTRIA.    Die  Postwertzeichen  des  Kaisertumes  Oesterreich  und 

der  oesterreichisch-ungarischen  Monarchie.    By  H.  Kropf. 

Prag,  1908.     •.♦  Thirty-five  plates. 
Baden.    Baden  (in  German).    By  O.  Rommel.    Leipzig,  1893-6. 

*.•  One  plate. 
Die  Abstempelungen  der    Mar  ken  von   Baden.    By  A.   E. 

Glasewald.     Gossnitz,  1898.     •.•  Two  plates. 
Die  Briefmarken  von  Baden.     By  C.   Lindenberg.    Berlin, 

1894.     •.*  One  plate. 
Die  JBriefumschlage  von  Baden.    By  C.  Lindenberg.     Berlin, 

1894. 
Barbados.    The  Stamps  of  Barbados.      By  E.  D.   Bacon  and 

F.  H.  Napier.    London,  1896.    •.•  Three  plates. 
Bavaria.     Bayern  (in  German).    By  O.  Rommel.    Leipzig,  1893- 

96.    •.•  Two  plates. 
Die  Postwerthzeichen  von    Bayern.     By  S.  Friedl.     Wien, 

1880. 
Die  Briefumschlage  von  Bayern.    By  C.  Lindenberg.    Berlin, 

1895. 
Der  Specialsammler  von  Bayern  nach  Abstempelungen.    By 

A.  Chehus.    Munchen,  1900. 
Belgium.    Belgique  et  Congo  Beige.    Catalogue  special  de  tous 

les  varietes  de  timbi  es-poste,  telegraphe,  colis-postaux  & 

cartes  postales.      By    C.    Brandes-Hoffstetter.     Bruxelles, 

1897. 
Les  Timbres  de    Belgique.    By  J.    B.  Moens.      Two    vols. 

Bruxelles,  1880. 
Bergedorf.    Die  Postfreimarken  des  beiderstadtischen  Postamtes 

Bergedorf.      By    H.     Krotzsch.      Leipzig,    1896.      *.•  Nine 

plates. 
Bhopal.     Notes  on  the  Postage  Stamps  of  Bhopal.      By  G.  A. 

Anderson.    Calcutta,  1899.     %*  Thirty-two  plates. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  PHILATELY     339 

Bolivia,    How  to  Collect  Bolivian  Stamps.    By  H.  R.  Oldfield. 

London,  1898.     •••  Six  plates. 
Brazil.    Catalogue  historique   des  timbres-poste  et    entiers  du 

Bresil.     By  C.  O.  Vieira.    Paris,  1893. 
Catalogue  of   Postage   Stamps  issued    in    Brazil,  accurately 

described  and  formed  from  the  stock  of  Exemplar  Stamps 

collected  by  C.J.  L.  of  Bahia  in  Brazil.    By  C.J.  Lindgren. 

Bahia,  1891. 
Bremen.    Bremen  (in  German).    By  O.  Rommel  and  H.  Krotzsch. 

Leipzig,  1893-6.     •.•  Six  plates. 
Die  Brief umschlage   von    Hamburg  und   Bremen.     By   C. 

Lindenberg.    Berlin,  1894. 
Les  Timbres  de  Brdme.    By  G.  Brunei.     Paris,  1907. 
British  Central  Africa.    British  Central  Africa  and  Nyasaland 

Protectorate.    By  Fred.  J.  Melville.    London,  1909. 
British    Honduras.     The  Stamps  of   British    Honduras.     By 

B.  W.  H.  Poole.    London,  1910. 
British  New   Guinea.     British  New  Guinea  and  Papua.    By 

Fred  J.  Melville.    London,  1909. 
Brunswick.     Die  Postwerthzeichen  des    Herzogthums    Braun- 
schweig.   By  L.  Berger.    Braunschweig,  1893. 
Die  Briefumschlage  von  Braunschweig.     By  C.  Lindenberg. 

Berlin,  1892. 
Braunschweig.    By  O.   Rommel  and  H.   Krotzsch.    Leipzig^ 

1893-6.    *.'  Four  plates. 
Campeche.    Some  Notes  on  the  most  remarkable  Postage  Stamp 

ever  issued.     By  W.  C.  Bellows.    New  York,  1909. 
Canada.    The  Postage   Stamps  of  Canada.    By  C.  A.  Howes. 

Boston,  1911.     •.•  Fifteen  plates. 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.    Cape  of  Good  Hope.    By  E.  J.  Nankivell. 

Tunbridge  Wells,  1909. 
Cayman  Islands.    The  Cayman  Islands  :  Their  Stamps  and  Post 

Office.    By  D.  Armstrong,  C.    Bostwick,  and  A.  Watkin. 

London,  1910.    '.•  Two  plates. 
Jamaica   and   the    Cayman    Islands.      By   E.   J.   Nankivell. 

Tunbridge  Wells,  1908. 
Ceylon.    The  Postage  Stamps,  Envelopes,  Wrappers,  Post  Cards, 

and  Telegraph  Stamps  of  British  India  and  Ceylon.     [The 

Philatelic  Society,  London.]     London,  1892. 
Chili.    Estudios  de  la  filatelia  de  Chile.    By  R.  Aguirre  Mercado. 

Coquimbo,  1905. 
Les  Timbres  du  Chili,  d'apr^  Rafael  Aguirre  Mercado,    By 

Sigismond  Jean.    Paris,  1910. 


340       CHATS   ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

China.    Notes  on  the  Postage  Stamps  of  China,  1878-1905.    By 

J.  Mencarini  (of  the  Imperial  Maritime  Customs  Service). 

Shanghai,  1906.     '.*  Four  plates. 
The  Postage  Stamps  of  China,  with  a  History  of  the  Chinese 

Imperial    Post.      By    Fred    J.   Melville.      London,    1908. 

*.•  Three  plates. 
Colombia.    Catalogo    de    estampillas    postales    de    Colombia : 

emisiones  1859  a  1897.    By  L.  Umana.    Cali,  1897. 
Confederate  States  of  America.     Catalogue  of  the  Stamps, 

Envelopes,  and  Wrappers  of  the  United  States  of  America, 

and  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America.     By  H.  L.  Collin 

and  H.  L.  Caiman,  with  John  N.  Luff  and  Geo.  L.  Toppan. 

New  York,  1900. 
Corea.    The  Emissions  of  China,  Shanghai,  Corea,  and  Japan. 

By  W.  A.  Warner.    Chicago,  1889. 
Crete.    Les    nouveaux  timbres-poste    de   I'ile  de  Crete  et  les 

modeles  des  monnaies  antiques  (translated  from  the  Greek). 

[Direction  des  Postes  Cretoises.]    La  Canee,  1905. 
The  New  Postage  Stamps  of  the  Island  of  Crete.    Translated 

from  the  above.    New  York,  1905. 
Denmark.    Danske  Postfrimaerker  1851-1901.      [A  semi-official 

jubilee  work,  containing  reprints.]    By  O.  Koefoed.  Kjoben- 

havn,  1901. 
Danemark-Studie.      By     O.    V.     Riise.      Munchen,     1893. 

•••  Three  plates. 
Dominica.    Dominica.     By  B.  W,  H.  Poole.    Tunbridge  Wells, 

1909. 
Dutch  Indies.     Beschrijving  van  alle   Nederlandsch    Indische 

Frankeerzegels,    Postzegels.    [Nederlandsche   Vereeniging 

van  Postzegelverzamelaars.]    Amsterdam,  1895. 
Egypt.    The  Stamps  of  Egypt.    By  W.  S.  Warburg.    Tewkesbury, 

Egremont,  1895. 
De     Postzegels    van    Egypte.      By   J.   C.  auf    der  Heide. 

Amsterdam,  1902. 
Errors.    The  World's  Stamp  Errors.    By   Miss  Fitte.    Part  I., 

The  British  Empire.    Part  II.,  Foreign  Countries.    London, 

1910. 
Europe.     The  Adhesive  Postage  Stamps  of  Europe.    By  W.  A.  S. 

Westoby.    Two  vols.     London,  1898-1900. 
Catalogue-Memento   pour    servir  de   Manco  List :  Europe  et 

Colonies.    By  Paul  Morand.    Paris,  1909. 
Falkland  Islands.    The  Postage  Stamps  of  the  Falkland  Islands. 

By  B.  W.  H.  Poole.    London,  1909. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  PHILATELY     341 

Fiji  Islands.    The  Postage  Stamps,  &c.,  of  the  Fiji  Islands.    By 

Charles  J.  Phillips.     London,  1908.     •.•  Fifteen  plates. 
Finland.      Die    Ganzsachen  von   Finnland.      By  R.  Granberg. 

Berlin,  1903. 
Katalog  iiber  die  Freimarken  des  Grossfiirstentums  Finland, 

[Helsingfors    Frimarkssamlare  Forening.]    3rd  ed.  Hels- 

ingfors,  1908.    •.*  Three  plates. 
Forgeries.    Album  Weeds,  or  How  to  detect  Forged  Stamps. 

By  the  Rev.  R.  B.  Earee.    3rd  ed.    Two  vols.    London, 

1906-7. 
France.    Catalogue  Descriptif    Illustre   de  toutes    les  Marques 

Postales  de  la  France.      By  A.  Maury.    2nd  ed.      Paris, 

1899,  with  supplement,  1905. 
Catalogue  Memento,  pour  servir  de  Manco-Liste  :  France  et 
^  ses  Colonies.     By  Paul  Morand.     Paris,  1909. 
Etude  et  description  des  signes  de  controle  sur  les  timbres  de 

la  France   de    1846-99.       By    H.    Valois.     Amiens,  1896. 

•.*  Three  plates. 
Histoire  des  timbres-poste  fran^ais.      By    A.    Maury.    Two 

parts.     Paris,  1907-8. 
Histoire  du  timbre-poste  frangais.    By  L.  Leroy.     Paris    et 

Bruxelles,  1891. 
Les  Vignettes  postales  de  la  France  et  de  ses  Colonies.    By  F. 

Marconnet.      Two   vols.     Nancy,    1897.     •.'  Second     vol. 

consists  of  atlas  of  plates. 
Notes  sur  remission  provisoire  des  timbres-poste  frangais  dits 

de  "  Bordeaux."    By  P.  Hermand.    Paris,  1901. 
Le  Timbre-Poste  fran^ais,  etude  historique  et  anecdotique  de 

la   poste    et    du  timbre  en  PYance  et    dans    les   colonies 

frangaises.      By  Georges  Brunei.      New    ed.,  with  supple- 
ment.    Paris,  1901. 
Gambia.    Gambia.     By  Fred.  J.  Melville.     London,  1909. 
Germany   and    Colonies.     Die  Aushiilfsmarken   von  Tsingtau 

und  ihre  Falschungen.    By  Gebruder  Senf.     Leipzig,  1903. 
Deutsche  Reich-Post.    By  O.  Rommel.    Leipzig,  1893-6. 
Illustrierter  Spezial-Katalog  der  Deutschen    Kolonialmarken 

und  der  Deutschen  Postamter  im  Auslande.    By  Gebruder 

Senf.     Leipzig,  1907. 
Gibraltar.     Die  Postwertzeichen  von  Gibraltar  seit  1889.    By 

W.  Breimeier.     Leipzig,  1892. 
Great  Britain.    Great  Britain  :  Embossed  Adhesive  Stamps.    By 

Fred  J.  Melville.    London,  1910. 


342       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Great  Britain :  King  Edward  VII.  Stamps.    By  Fred  J.  Mel- 
ville.   London^  191 1. 
Great  Britain  :  Line-engraved  Stamps.     By  Fred  J.  Melville* 

2nd  ed.     London,  1910. 
A  History  of  the  Adhesive  Stamps  of  the  British  Isles.    By 

H.   E.   Wright  and  A.    B.   Creeke,  Jun.      London,    1899. 

•.•  Thirty-eight  plates.     With   a  Supplement.      By  A.    B. 

Creeke,  Jun.     London,  1904.     • .  •  One  plate. 
The  Postage  Stamps  of  Great  Britain.    By  Fred  J.  Melville. 

London,  1904,     *.•  Eight  plates. 
The  Postage  and  Telegraph  Stamps  of  Great  Britain.    By  F.  A. 

Philbrick  and  W.  A.  S.  Westoby.    London,  1881. 
The  Postage  Stamps  of  the  United  Kingdom,  1840-90.     By 

W.  A.  S.  Westoby.    2nd  ed.    London,  1892. 
Standard  Priced  Catalogue  of  the  Stamps  and  Postmarks  of  the 

United  Kingdom.     By  H.  L.  Ewen.    6th  ed.    London,  S.E., 

1898. 
Greece.    Les  Emissions  des  Timbres  Grecs,    By  Georges  Brunei. 

Paris,  1909. 
Die  Postmarken  von  Griechenland.     By  A.   E.  Glasewald. 

Gdssnitz,  1886-96.     •.•  Plates. 
Die  Postwerthzeichen  von  Griechenland.   By  A.  E.  Glasewald. 

Gdssnitz,  1896. 
The  Stamps  of  Greece.    By  W.  D.  Beckton  and  G.  B.  Duerst. 

Manchester,  iSgy.    •.•  Three  plates. 
Grenada.    Grenada.    By  E.  D.  Bacon  and  F.  H.  Napier.  London, 

1900.    •.•  Nine  plates. 
Griqualand.    The  Stamps  of  Griqualand  West.    By  F.  H.  Napier. 

Manchester,  1903.     •••  Two  plates. 
Hamburg.     Die  Briefumschlage  von  Hamburg  und  Bremen.    By 

C.  Lindenberg.    Berlin,  1894. 
Hamburg  (in   German).    By  O.   Rommel  and  H.  Krotzsch. 

Leipzig,  1893-6. 
Die  Postwerthzeichen  von  Hamburg.     By  E.  Heim.      Wien, 

1880. 
Les  Timbres  de  Hambourg.    By  G.  Brunei.    Paris,  1911. 
Hanover.   Die  Briefumschlage  von  Hannover.    By  C.  Lindenberg. 

Berlin,  1895. 
Hannover  (in  German).      By    H.    Krotzsch.      Leipzig,   1893. 

♦.•  Nine  plates. 
Hawaiian  Islands.    Descriptive  Catalogue  of  the  Postage  Stamps 

of  Hawaii.    By  W.  M.  Giffard.    Honolulu,  1893. 


BIBLIOGEAPHY  OF  PHILATELY     343 

Hawaiian  Numerals.    By  Henry  J.  Crocker.    San  Francisco^ 

1909.     *.•  Twenty-two  plates. 
History  of  the  Postal  Issues  of    Hawaii.    By   Brewster  C. 

Kenyon.     Long  Beach,  Cal.,  1895.     •••  Eight  plates. 
Postage  Stamps  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  in  the  Collection  of 
Henry  J.  Crocker,  of  San  Francisco.    By  Fred  J.  Melville. 
London,  1908.    • .  *  Eight  plates. 
Hayti.    The  Postage  Stamps  of  Hayti.      By  Fred  J.  Melville. 

London^  1905. 
Heligoland.     Heligoland    et   ses    timbres.     By   J.    B.   Moens. 
Bruxelles,  1897. 
Originaux  et  Reimpressions  de  Heligoland.    By  A.  Wulbern. 
Bruxelles,  1911.     •.•  Two  plates. 
Holland  and  Colonies.    De  Afstempelingen  voorkomende  op  de 
Postzegels  van  Nederland.    By  Schreuders  &  Co.    s'Graven- 
hage,  1897.     •.•  Twelve  plates. 
Beschrijving  van  alle  Nederlansche  Postzegels.  [Nederlandsche 
Vereeniging    van      Postzegel-verzamelaars.]       Amsterdam, 
1894-5.     •.•  Part  I.  deals  with  Holland  ;  II.,  Dutch  Indies  ; 
III.,  Surinam  ;  IV.,  Curasao. 
Holland.     By  Fred  J.  Melville.    London,  1909. 
Perforations    Galore.      By    A.    H.  Warren.      London,   1910. 
•.•Plates. 
Hong  Kong.    Descriptive  Catalogue  of  the  Postage  Stamps  and 
Cards  issued  by  the  Hong  Kong  Post  Office.   By  J.  Mencarini. 
Amoy  (China'),  1898. 
The  Postage  Stamps  of  Hong  Kong.      By  B.  W.  H.  Poole. 
London,  1908. 
Hungary.    Die  Wasserzeichen  der  Ungarischer  Postwerthzeichen. 

By  Dr.  S.  Lengyel.    Leipzig,  1890. 
India.    The  Adhesive   Fiscal  and  Telegraph  Stamps  of  British 
India.     By  C.  S.  Crofton  and  W.  Corfield.     Calcutta,  1905. 
British  Indian  Adhesive  Stamps,  surcharged  for  Native  States, 
By  C.  Stewart- Wilson.    Part  I.,  Chamba,  Faridkot,  Gwalior. 
Calcutta,    1897.      •.•Four    plates.     Part  II.,  Jhind,    Nabha, 
Patialla.      Calcutta,    1898.      •.•  Four    plates.      (A    revised 
edition    by  the  same   author   in   collaboration  with  B.  G. 
Jones,   was    published   in    one    volume.      Calcutta,    1904. 
•.•Nine  plates.) 
The  Postage  Stamps,  &c.,  of  British  India  and  Ceylon.    [The 
Philatelic   Society,  London.]     London,    1892.    •.*  Twenty- 
four  plates. 
Notes  on  the  De  La  Rue  Series  of  the  Adhesive  Postage  and 


344       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Telegraph  Stamps    of    India.     Supplement    to  preceding 
work.     By  J.  A.  Tilleard.     London,  1896. 
The  Postage  and  Telegraph  Stamps  of  British  India.    Part  I., 
Postage  Stamps.     By  L.  L.  R.  Hausburg.     Part  II.,  Tele- 
graph Stamps.    By  C.  Stewart-Wilson  and  C.  S.  F.  Crofton. 
London,  1907.    •.•  Twenty-three  plates. 
Italy.     I  Francobolli  Italiani.    By  G.  Damiani.    Milano,  1894. 
Catalogo  Filatelico-Storico  dell'Italia  dal  1818  a  1901.    By  G. 
Rocereto.    2nd  ed.    Napoli,  1902. 
Jamaica.    Jamaica.     By  Fred  J.  Melville.    London,  1910.    •.•  Six 
plates. 
Jamaica  and  the  Cayman  Islands.     By  E.  J.  Nankivell.     Tun- 
bridge  Wells,  1908. 
Jammu   and    Kashmir.      The  Stamps  of  Jammu  and  Kashmir. 
By  Sir  D.    P.   Masson.      Vol.  I.,  Calcutta,    1900.     •.*    Six 
plates.    Vol.  II.,  Lahore,  1901.    '.*  Eleven  plates. 
Japan.     Dai  Nippon  Teikoku  Ubin  Kitte  Eukakushi  {lit.,  History 
of  the  Postage  Stamps    of    the  Great  Japanese  Empire). 
[Japanese  Postal  Department.]     Tokio,  1896.    *.•  This  work 
is  illustrated  with  actual  stamps,  and  is  of  considerable 
rarity.    A  forgery  or  unofficial  imitation  of  the  work  has 
been  published. 
Les  Ecritures  et  la  legende  des  timbres  du  Japon.    By  Dr. 
A.  Legrand.     Bruxelles,  1878. 
Leeward  Islands.    Priced  Catalogue  of  the  Obsolete  Leeward 
Isles.    By  R.  HolHck.     London,   1895.    (See  West  Indies.) 
LuBECK.    Die  Briefumschlage  von  Liibeck.    By  C.  Lindenberg. 
Berlin,  1892. 
Liibeck.     By  H.  Krotzsch.    Lei;pzig,  iSg^.    •.•  Forty  plates. 
Die  Postwertzeichen  von  Liibeck.     By  O.  Rommel.    Miinchen, 

1895. 
Les  Timbres  de  Lubeck.    By  Georges  Brunei.     Paris,  1911. 
Luxemburg.    Timbres   du    Grand-Duche   de    Luxembourg.    By 

J.  B.  Moens.    Bruxelles,  1879.     •.•  Plates. 
Mauritius.    Notes  sur  les  Timbres-poste  de  Maurice.    By  E.  B. 
Evans.    Paris,  1880. 
Les    Timbres   de    Maurice.      By    J.    B.  Moens.      Bruxelles, 
1878. 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin     and     Mecklenburg-Strelitz.     Die 
Briefumschlage  von  Mecklenburg-Schwerin  und  Mecklen- 
burg-Strelitz.   By  C.   Lindenberg.    Berlin,  1892. 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin  und  Mecklenburg-Strelitz.    By  Hugo 
Krotzsch.    Leipzig^  1893-6.    •••  Seventeen  plates. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  PHILATELY     345 

Les  Timbres  de  Mecklembourg-Schwerin  et  Strelitz.    By  J.  B. 
Moens.     Bruxelles,  1879. 
Mexico.    Catalogue  of  Mexican  Postage  and  Revenue  Stamps, 
Envelopes,  Post  Cards,  &c.     By  C.   H.  Mekeel.    4th  ed. 
St  Louis,  Mo.,  1896. 
Catalogue  of  the  Stamps,  Envelopes,  Wrappers,  and  Postal 
Cards    of     Mexico,    including  the    Provisional  Issues    of 
Campeche,  Chiapas,    Guadalajara,  &c.    By  H.  Collin  and 
H.  L.  Caiman,  with  Albert  E.  Lawrence.    New  York,  1895. 
Los  Sobrecargos  de  los  sellos  postales  de  Mexico.     By  J. 
Marco  del  Pont.  Buenos  Aires,  1903.    (See  also  Campeche.) 
MoDENA.     I  Francobolli  del  Ducato  di  Modena  e  delle  Provincie 
Modenesi.    By  Dr.  Emilio  Diena.    Modena,  1894.    *.•  Seven 
plates. 
The  Stamps  of  the  Duchy  of    Modena  and  the  Modenese 
Provinces.     By    Dr.     Emilio    Diena.    Manchester,    1905. 
•.'  Seven  plates.     (A  revised  version  in  English,  prepared 
by  the  author  from  his  original  work  in  Italian.) 
Timbres  des  Etats  de  Parme,  Modene  et  Romagna.    By  J,  B. 
Moens.     Bruxelles,  1878. 
Moldavia.    See  Roumania. 
Naples.    Timbres   de  Naples   et   de  Sicilie.    By  J.  B.  MoSns. 

Bruxelles,  1877. 
Nevis.    Nevis.    By  Fred  J.  Melville.    London,  1909. 
New  Caledonia.    Une  reimpression  des  timbres  de  la  Nouvelle- 

Caledonie.    By  A.  Maury.    Paris,  1880. 
New  Hebrides.    New  Hebrides.    By  Single  CA.    London,  1910. 
New  South  Wales.    A  History  and  Description  of  the  Sydney 
View  Stamps  of  New  South  Wales.    By  R.  C.  H.  Brock. 
Philadelphia,  1890. 
History  of  the  Post  Office,  together  with  an  Historical  Account 
of   the  Issue    of    Postage  Stamps  in  New  South  Wales. 
Compiled     chiefly    from     the     Records,    by    A.    Houison. 
Sydney,  1890.     •.•  Fifteen  plates. 
The  Postage  Stamps,  Envelopes,  Wrappers,  Post  Cards  and 
Telegraph  Stamps  of  New  South  Wales.    By  A.  F.  Basset 
Hull.      Two  vols.    London,  1911.    •.•  Sixteen  plates. 
The  Registration  Stamp  of  New  South  Wales.   By  A.  Houison. 
Sydney,  1888. 
Niger  Coast.    Niger  Coast   Protectorate.    By  E.  J.  Nankivell. 

Tunbridge  Wells,  1909. 
North  German  Confederation.    Die  Briefumschlage  des  Nord- 
deutschen  Postbezirks.     By  C.  Lindenberg.    Berlin,  1893. 


346       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Norddeutscher  Postbezirk  mit  Occupations-Freimarken.    By 
H.  Krotzsch.    Leipzig,  1893-6. 
Oldenburg.    Die  Briefumschlage  von  Oldenburg.    By  C.  Linden- 
berg.    Berlin,  1893. 
Oldenburg  (in  German).    By  P.  Ohrt.    Leipzig,  1893-6. 
Orange  River  Colony.     South  African  War  Provisionals.    By 

B.  W.  H.  Poole.    London,  1901.    •.•  Six  plates. 

Panama.    Bartels'  Check  List  of  Canal  Zone  Stamps,    By  J.  M. 

Bartels.     2nd  ed.    Boston,  Mass.,  1908. 

Bartels'   Check  List  of  the  Postage  Stamps  of  Panama,  1907. 

By  W.  W.  Randall  and  J.  M.  Bartels.  Boston,  Mass.,  1907. 

A  Reference  List  of  the  Stamps  of  Panama.    By  J.  N.  Luff. 

New  York,  1905. 
The  Stamps  of  the  Canal  Zone.    By  G.  L.  Toppan.    New 
York,  1906. 
Parma.    Timbres  des  Etats  de  Parme,  Modene  et  Romagne.    By 

J.  B.  Moens.    Bruxelles,  1878. 
Persia.     Die  persische  post  und  die  Postwerthzeichen  von  Persien 
und    Buchara.     By    F.    Schiiller.      Wicn,    1893.     •.*  Four 
plates. 
La  Poste  des  Califes  et  la  Poste  du  Shah.    By  P.  Hugonnet. 
Paris,  1884.     .'.  Map. 
Peru.     Beredeneerde  Geillustreerde   Catalogus  aller  Postzegels, 
Couverten    en   Briefkaarten,  officieel  uitgegeven  door  de 
Peruaansche  Republiek  van  af  i  December,  1857,  tot  en  met 
31  December,  1887.     By  A.  E.  J.  Huart.    Amsterdam,  1888. 
Catalogue  general  et  detaille  des  timbres-poste,  enveloppes  et 
cartes  postales  ofBciellement  emis  dans  la  Republique  du 
Perou.   [Societe  Philatelique  Sud  Americaine.]   Lima,  1887. 
Peru.    Investigaciones   sobre  la  emision  de  estampillas  del 
coronel  seminario    en    tumbez    en  Marzo    de    1895.    By 
A.  T.  Lista.    Santiago  de  Chile,  1899. 
Les  Timbres  du  Perou.     By  J.  B.  Moens.    Bruxelles,  1878. 
Studie  iiber  Postwertzeichen  von  Peru.    By  Dr.  O.  Rommel. 
Munchen,  1890. 
Philippine  Islands.    The  Postage  Stamps  of   the  Philippines. 
By  J.  M.  Bartels,  F.  A.  Foster  and  F.  L.  Palmer.     Boston, 
Mass.,  1904. 
Portugal.    Catalogue  descriptif  et  illustre  de  tons  les  timbres- 
poste,   &c.,  du  Portugal  emis  des  1853  a  1895  avec  leur 
differentes  denteleurs,  papiers,  &c.  By  T.  Ramos.  Lisbonne, 
1895. 
The  Dies  of  the  Postage  Stamps  of  Portugal  of  the  Reigns  of 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  PHILATELY     347 

Dona  Maria  II.   and   Dom  Pedro  V.     By  R.  B.  Yardley. 

Manchester^  1907.     •.*  Thirty  plates. 
Portugal.    Eine  Studie  iiber  die  Ausgaben  1853-76.    By  L. 

Berger.    Berlin,  1898. 
Portuguese  Indies.    Portuguese  India.     By  G.  Harrison  and 

F.  H.  Napier.    London,  1893.    *.♦  Two  plates. 
Prince  Edward  Island,     Prince  Edward  Island.    By  R.  E.  R. 

Dalwigk,    London,  1910. 
Prussia.    Preussen.    By  P.  Ohrt.    Leipzig,  1893-6. 

Les  Timbres  de  Prusse.    By  J.  B.  Moens.    Bruxelles,  1887. 
Reprints.    Handbuch    aller    bekannten    Neudrucke    staatlicher 

Postfreimarken,    Ganzsachen    und    Essays.    By    P.    Ohrt. 

Dusscldorf,  1907. 
Reprints  of  Postal  Adhesive  Stamps  and  their  Characteristics. 

By  E.  D.  Bacon.    London^  1899. 
Roman  States.    Tinibres  des  Etats  de  Toscane  et  Saint-Marin  et 

des  Etats  de  I'Eglise.    By  J.  B.  Moens.    Bruxelles,  1878. 
Roumania.     Die     Postwerthzeichen    von    Rumanien.      Moldau, 

Moldau-Walachei,     Fiirstenthum     Rumanien,     Konigreich 

Rumanien.      By     H.     Roggenstroh.      Magdeburg,     1894. 

•.*  Five  plates. 
Timbres  de  Moldavie  et  de  Roumaine.    By  Dr.  Magnus,    2nd 

ed.    Bruxelles,  1869. 
Russia.    Die  Postmarken  von  Russland.    By  Dr.  E,  von  Bochmann. 

Leipzig,  1895. 
Les  Timbres  de  Russie.     By  J.  B.  MoSns.    Bruxelles,  1893. 
St.  Thomas  and  Prince  Islands.    La  Guerre  aux  timbres  sur- 
charges de  S.  Thome  et  Principe.      By  J.  A.  da   Silva. 

Lisbonne,  1895. 
St.  Vincent.    Saint  Vincent.    By  F,  H.  Napier  and  E.  D.  Bacon. 

London,  iSgS.     •.'  Two  plates. 
San  Marino.    Timbres  des  Etats  de  Toscane  et  Saint-Marin.    By 

J.  B.  Moens.    Bruxelles,  1878. 
Sarawak.     The   Postage    Stamps   of    Sarawak.      By    Fred   J. 

Melville.     London,  1907.     •.•  Eight  plates. 
Saxony.    Die  Briefumschlage  von  Sachsen.    By  C.  Lindenberg. 

Berlin,  1894. 
Les  Timbres  de  Saxe.    By  J.  B.  Mogns.    Bruxelles,  1879. 
Geschichte  der  Postwerthzeichen  des   Konigreichs  Sachsen. 

By  Dr.  P.  Kloss.    Dresden,  1882. 
ScHLESWiG  -  HoLSTEiN.      Die    Postfreimarken    der    Herzogtiimer 

Schleswig-Holstein.     By  A.    Rosenkranz.     Leipzig,  i^<)7. 
'.'  Fourteen  plates. 


348       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Timbres  des  Duches  de  Schleswig-Holstein  et  Lauenbourg  et 

Bergedorf.    By  J.  B.  Moens.     Bruxellcs,  1884. 
Seychelles.    The  Postage  Stamps  of  the  Seychelles.  By  B.  W.  H. 

Poole.     London,  1906. 
Shanghai.    Shanghai.    By  W.  B.  Thornhill.    London,  1895.    •.• 

Eight  plates. 
SiAM.    The  Postage  Stamps  of  Siam.    By  A.   Holland.    Boston, 

Mass,  1904.    •.•  One  plate. 
Siam  :  Its  Posts  and  Postage  Stamps.    By  Fred  J,  Melville. 

London,  1906. 
Sicily.    History  of  the  Postage  Stamps  of  Sicily.     By  Dr.  E. 

Diena.    London,  1904.     *.•  Twenty  plates. 
SiRMOOR.    Sirmoor  I.    By  [Sir]  D.  P.  Masson.     Madras,  1906. 
South  Australia.    South  Australia.   By  F.  H.  Napier  and  Gordon 

Smith.    London,  1894.     *.*  Three  plates. 
Spain.    Catalogo  ilustrado  de  sellos  de  correo  de  Esparia.     By  H. 

Prats.     Barcelona,  1894. 
Historia  de  los  sellos  de  correos  y  telegrafos  de  Espaiia.    By 

M.  A.  Fernandez.     Madrid,  1901-4. 
Histoire  des  timbres-poste  ...  en  Espagne.    By  J.  B.  Mogns. 

Bruxelles,  1891. 
Resefia    Historico-Descriptiva   de    los    Sellos  de  Correo  de 

Espaiia.    By  A.  F.  Duro.     Madrid,  1881. 
Straits  Settlements.    A  Reference  List  to  the  Stamps  of  the 

Straits  Settlements,  surcharged  for  use  in  the  Native  Pro- 
tected States.    By  W.  Brown.    Salisbury,  1^^.     *.•  Supple- 
mental plate. 
Sudan.     Sudan.    By  E.  J.  Nankivell.     London,  1904. 
Suez  Canal  Company.    Timbres  d'Egypte  et  de  la  Compagnie  du 

Canal  de  Suez.    By  J.  B.  Moens.    Bruxelles,  1880. 
Sweden.    Sveriges  Frankotecken,  1855-1905.    [Sveriges  Filatelist- 

Forening.]    Stockholm,  1905.     *.•  Plates, 
Die  Postmarken  von  Schweden,  1855-1905.     [A  prdcis  of  the 

above  in    German.]     By  H.  Djurling  and  R.  Krasemann. 

Leipzig,  1908. 
Switzerland.    The    Forgeries   of   the    "Cantonal"   Stamps   of 

Switzerland.    By  Baron  A.  de  Reuterskiold.    Manchester, 

1908.     •.*  One  plate. 
Spezial-Katalog    und    Handbuch    iiber  die  Briefmarken  der 

Schweiz  und  Tabellen  iiber  Abstempelungen  der  Ausgaben 

1843-81.     By  E.  Zumstein.    Bern,  1908. 
Handbook  of  the  Postage  Stamps  of  Switzerland,  from  the 

above.    By  E,  Zumstein,    London,  igio,    •••  Six  plates. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  PHILATELY     349 

The   Stamps   of    Switzerland,  1843-54.     By  Baron  C.  von 

Girsewald.    Milnchen,  1893. 
Les  Timbres  Cantonaux  .  .  .  Suisses  de  1843  a  1852,  et  leurs 

fac-simile  a  ce  jour.    By  H.  Goegg.    Geneve,  1893. 
Les  Timbres-poste  Suisses,  1843-62    [and    in   German   and 

English].    By  P.  Mirabaud  and  Baron  A.  de  Reuterskiold. 

Pans,  1900.    •••  Fourteen  plates. 
Tasmania.    The  Stamps  of  Tasmania.  By  A.  F.  B.  Hull.    London. 

1890.    •.•  Nine  plates. 
Thurn  and  Taxis.    Die  Abstempelungen  der  Marken  des  Thurn 

und    Taxis'schen    Postgebietes.      By    A.    E.    Glasewald. 

Gdssnit2,  1893.     •.*  Ten  plates  and  two  maps. 
Die  Briefumschlage  von  Thurn  und  Taxis.    By  C.  Lindenberg. 

Berlin,  1892. 
Tonga.    Tonga.    By  Fred.  J.  Melville.    London,  1909. 
Turkey.     Croissant-Toughra  (Armoiries  de  I'Empire  Ottoman). 

By  F.  Mongeri.    Bruxelles,  1887. 
Katalog  der  Postwerthzeichen  des  ottomanischen  Kaiserthums. 

By  F.  Meyer.     Wien,  1878. 
United  States.    History  of  the  Postage  Stamps  of  the  United 

States.    By  J.  K.  Tiffany.    2nd  ed.    Sf.  Lowis,  1893. 
The  Postage  Stamps  of  the  United  States,     By  J.  N.  Luff. 

New  York,  1902.    •.*  Twenty-three  plates. 
The  Postage    Stamps   of   the   United   States.     By  Fred  J. 

Melville.    London,  1905. 
A  Tentative  Check  List  of  the  Proofs  of  the  Adhesive  Postage 

and    Revenue  Stamps    of  the   United  States.     By  G.  L. 

Toppan.    New  York  and  Boston,  Mass.,  1904. 
United  States  Postage  Stamps,  1847-69.    By  Fred  J.  Melville. 

2nd  ed.    Loudon,  1910. 
United  States  Postage  Stamps,  1870-93.    By  Fred  J.  Melville. 

London,  1910. 
United    States    Postage    Stamps,    1894-1910.      By    Fred    J. 

Melville.    London,  1910. 
Uruguay.    A  Study  of  the  Stamps  of  Uruguay.  By  Hugo  Griebert. 

London,  1910.     •.•  Seven  plates. 
Les  Timbres  de  la  Republique  Orientale  de  1' Uruguay.    By 

Dr.  E.  Wonner.    Neuilly,  1887.    •.•  Map. 
Les  Timbres  de  I'Uruguay.    By  S.  Jean.    Paris,  1908. 
West  Indies.    The  Postage  Stamps,  Envelopes,  Wrappers,  Post 

Cards  and  Telegraph  Stamps  of  the  British  Colonies  in  the 

West    Indies,    together  with    British    Honduras   and   the 


350       CHATS  ON  POSTAGE  STAMPS 

Colonies    in    South    America.     [The    Philatelic    Society, 

London.]     London,  1891. 
WuRTEMBERG.    Die  Briefumschlagc  von  Wiirttemberg.     By  C. 

Lindenberg.    Berlin,  1895. 
Les  Timbres  du  Wurtemberg.     By  J.  B.  MoSns.    Bruxclles, 

1881. 
ZULULAND.    Zululand.    By  B.  W.  H.  Poole.    London,  1909. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Aberdeen  University  Library, 
127 

Abyssinia,  201 

Accessories,  136-150 

Acts  of  Parliament  :  Commonwealth, 
63,  159;  George  III.,  67;  Uni- 
form Penny  Postage,  loi,  159 

"Adhesive  Stamps  of  the  British 
Isles,  The,"  156 

Africa,  2C4 

"Aids  to  Stamp  Collectors," 
Booty's,   123,  147 

Aitutaki,  306 

Albino,  23 

Albums,  128,  136,  137,  147 

"  Album  Weeds,"  243 

Alexis  Michaelovitch,  H.I.H.  the 
Grand  Duke,  325 

Alfonso  XIII.,  H.M.  King,  325 

All  Hallows  Staining  rectory,  122, 
268 

Alsace  and  Lorraine,  269 

Althorp,  Lord,  96 

Anderson,  Mr.  P.  J,,  127 

Aniline  colours,  23 

Annapolis,  279,  289 

Antigua,  £04 

Argentine  Republic,  259 

Ashurst,  Mr.  W.  H.,  loi,  109,  159 

AtheruEUjn^  The,  97,  98,  109,  170 

Atlee,  Mr.  W.  D.,  273-275 

Auction  sale  of  stamps,  The  first, 
272 


18 


Augustus,  Emperor,  59 

Australian     Commonwealth,     190, 

202 
Austria,  60,  61,  71,  269 
Avery,  late  Sir  W.  B.,  9,  177,  183, 

225,  282,  290,  291,  302 
Ayer,  Mr.  F.  W.,  302 

Bacon,  Mr.  E.  D.,  298 

Baden,  61 

Bagshawe,  Mr.  A.,  302 

Balkan  States,  203 

Baltimore,  289 

Barbados,  219,  322 

Baring,  Mr.  Thomas,  M.P.,  167 

Basle,  256,  290 

Batavia,  Find  of  old  papers  in,  85 

Batonn6  paper,  23,  39 

Baton  Rouge,  181,  332 

Bavaria,  61 

Beaufort  House  Press,  The,  95 

Beaumont,  332 

Belgium,  179 

Bellman,  Origin  of  the,  67 

Benzine,  The  use  of,  139 

Bergedorf,  271,  326 

Berger-I^evrault,  M.  F.  G.  Oscar, 

125,  269-271 
Berlin  Postal  Museum,  330 
Bermuda,  322 
Billets  de  port  pay  e^  81 
Birchin-lane,  Stamp    exchange  in 

118,  121,  263 


354 


INDEX 


Bisected  provisional  stamps,  23,  37, 

219 
Blest,  Mr.  W.,  302 
BleutCy  blued  paper,  23 
Blind  division,  General  Post  Office, 

57 
Blocks  of  stamps,  23,  25 
Blood  locals,  The,  273 
Bogus  stamps,  23,  247,  258-260 
Booty,  Mr.  Frederick,  123,  124,  147 
Borchard,  Mme. ,  278 
Bourne,  Mr.  Herbert,  17a 
Boys^  Own  Magazine,  The,  127 
Bradbury,  Wilkinson  &  G).,  172 
Brattleboro,  273 
Brazil,  71,  116,  234 
British  Central  Africa,  168 
British  Colonial  Stamps, 32, 203, 311 
British  Guiana,  53,  219,  268,  269, 

27if  275,  277,  282,  301,  321,  329, 

331 
British  Museum,  97,  98,  134,  160, 

281,  327,  329,  330 
British  New  Guinea,  170 
British  North  America,  71,  202, 295 
British  Post-offices  abroad,  53 
British  Solomon  Islands,  206 
British  South  Africa  Company,  170 
British  West  Indies,  71,  202 
Brown,  Mr.  Mount,  123,  124,  127, 

264,  268 
Brunei,  259 
Brunswick,  61 
Buenos  Aires,  71,  271,  311 
Bulgaria,  306 

Bulwer,  Mr.  Edward  Lytton,  96 
Burele,  23 
Burnett,  Mr.  M.,  302 

Caillebotte,  Mm.,  302 
Canada,  176,  220,  269,  311 
Canary  Islands,  71 
Cancelled  to  order,  Stamps,  23 


Cape  Colony,  25,   179,  202,    220, 

269,  331 
Caroline  Islands,  206 
Cashmere,  40,  253 
Castle,  Mr.  M.  P.,  131,  290,  302, 

32s 

Castle- Mann  collection,  The,  202 
"  Catalogue  of  British  Colonial  and 

Foreign  Stamps,"  Mount  Brown's, 

124 
Catalogues,  Stamp,  137 
Cayman  Islands,  221 
Centimetre,  24 

Ceylon,  201,  222,  224,  253,  290 
Chalk-surfaced  paper,  24 
Chalmers,  Mr.  James,  c^  Dundee, 

99,  loi 
Chalon,  Mr.  Alfred  Edward,  R.A., 

170 
Change-alley,  Stamp  exchange  in, 

263 
Charles  II.,  64 
Cheverton,  Mr.  Benjamin,  102,  105, 

159,  160 
Chili,  71,  179,  189,  202 
China,  189,  201 
Christie,  Manson  &  Wood,  167 
City  medal,  Wyon's,  163 
Clarke,  Mr.  Harvey  R.  G.,  290 
Cliche,  24,  45 
Clipperton  Island,  259 
Clotilde,  Princess,  305 
Coit,  Mr.  J.  T.,  296 
Cole,  Sir   Henry,    loi,    102,    106, 

109,  no,  167 
Collections,  Sales  of,  302 
Colman,  Mr.  C,  302 
Colour  trials,  24 
Coloured  postmarks,  186 
Colours,  23,  28 
Colson,  Mr.  W.  H.,  332 
Comb  perforating  machine,  24 
Commemorative  stamps,  24 


INDEX 


355 


Commissioners    of   Post-office   in- 
quiry, loi,  109,  159 
Commonwealth,  posts  during  the, 

63 

Compound  perforations,  24 
Condition,  The  Importance  of,  8 ; 

Essential  details  of,  139-142 
Confederate  States  of  America,  296, 

331 
Control  letters,  marks,  24 
Cook  Islands,  206 
Cooper,  Miss  Eliza,  160 
Cooper,  Mr.  W.,  302 
Cooper,  Sir  Daniel,  123,  129,  131, 

272,  274,  275,  282,  298,  302 
Corbould,  Mr.  Edward  Henry,  170, 

I73>  175 
Corbould,  Mr.  Henry,  106,  175 
Cordoba,  259 
Counani,  259 
Cousins,  Mr.  Samuel,  170 
Coutures,  M.  Albert,  278 
Crawford,  The  Earl  of,  105,   131, 

148,  159,  160,  171,  282-289,  279 
Creased  stamps,  How  to  treat,  138 
Creeke,  Mr.  A.  B.,  jun.,  156,  160 
Crocker,  Mr.  Henry  J.,  295,  297, 

299 
Cromwell,  Thomas,  62 
Crown  Agents  for  the  Colonies,  172 
Cuba,  205,  306 
Current-number,  27,  29 
Cut-outs,  cut-squares,  27 
Cyprus,  29,  168,  222,  306 

Daily  Telegraphy  The,  264 
Darius,  I.,  59 
David's  letter  to  Joab,  58 
De  la  Rue  &  Co.,  Limited,  i 

202,  276 
Denmark,  240,  306 
"De-oxidisation,"  138 
De-sulphurisation  of  stamps,  138 


Dickens,  Charles,  122 

Dickinson,   Mr.    John,    102,    109, 

159,  160,  164 
"Dickinson"  paper,  27,  41,  109, 

157,  161,  164 
Dies,  postage-stamp,   23,   24,  27, 

3i»  35.  36,  46,  51 

Dilke,  Mr.,  of  The  Athenaeum,  109 

Diplomata  of  the  Roman  Em- 
perors, 60 

Dockwra,  Mr.  William,  64-67, 
82-84 

Dominica,  204 

Dominican  Republic,  205 

Doria  Pamphilj,  Prince,  302,  326 

Double  prints,  27 

Dutch  East  Indian  Company,  85 

Dutch  Indies,  85 

Duty-plate,  27,  32 

Duveen,  Mr.  Henry  J.,  187,  225, 
290-293 

Earee,  Rev.  R.  B.,  243 
Edinburgh,   H.R.H.   the  Duke  of, 

I3i»  305-311 
Edward  VII.,   H.M.    King,    129, 

313.  317,  318 
Egypt,  233 

Ehrenbach,  Mr.  R.,  302 
Electrotypes,  27 
Embossing,  27 
Engraving,  28 
Entires,  28 
Envelope  stamps,  28 
Errors,  28 
Essays  for  postage  stamps,  28,  103, 

107 
European  stamps,  202,  203 
Evans,  Major  E.  B.,  156 
Evans,  Mrs.  John,  161 
Evans,  Mr.  Lewis,  160,  161 
Evening  News,  The,  264 
Express,  The,   263 


356 


INDEX 


Fabri,  Sr.  p.,  302 

Facsimiles  of  postage  stamps,  28, 
241 

"  Facts  and  Reasons,"  Mr.  Ashurst's, 
loi,  109 

Fakes,  28,  249-253 

"  Falsification  of  Postage  Stamps, 
The,"  240 

Fernando  Po,  306 

Field,  Mr.  D.,  9,  321 

Fiji,  168,  169,  206,  223,  257 

Fiscal  stamps,  28,  45,  48 

Flap  ornaments,  28 

**  Forged  Stamps  and  How  to  De- 
tect Them,"  239 

Forgeries,  28,  31,  239-260 

Forrester,  Mr.  Samuel,  159,  160 

France,  234,  269,  326 

Francis,  Mr.  John,  109 

Francis,  Mr.  John  Collins,  109 

French  Revolution,  61 

Fuchs,  Herr  Emil,  317 

Fugitive  inks,  28 

Gambia,  37,  204,  223 

Gambin,  Sr.  Miguel,  302 

Gauge  for  measuring  perforations, 

see  ' '  Perforation  Gauge  " 
Gauge  for  use  in  arranging  stamps, 

144-147 
General  Post  Office,  London,  57, 80, 

195 

Generalising,  31,49,  199,  200 
Geneva,  256,  290-293,  326 
George  v.,  H.M.  King,   131,  160, 

167,  195,  225,  265,  305-325 
German  East  Africa,  259 
German  Empire,  61 
German  New  Guinea,  206 
German  States,  61,  71,  179,  203, 

330 
Gibbons,  Mr.  E.  S.,  117,  233 
Gibbons  Stamp  Weekly y  156 


Gibraltar,  71,  306 

Gilbert  and  Ellice  Islands,  20 

Gimet,  M.  E.,  278 

Gold  Coast,  204 

Goliad,  183,  332 

Government  imitations,  31,  256 

Grangerising  philatelic  monographs, 

155 

Granite  paper,  31,  41 

Gray,  Dr.  J.  E.,  97,  98,  124,  282 

Great  Britain,  25,  31, 32, 45,  53,  62, 
68,  99,  154-161,  170-173,  177- 
180,  191, 195,  201,  216-219,  235. 
244-248,  251,  269, 271,  275,  283- 
290>  307.  312-321 

"Great  Britain:  Embossed  Adhe- 
sive Stamps,"  160 

Greece,  51,  234,  306 

Grenada,  25,  322 

Griebert,  Mr.  Hugo,  180 

Grille,  The,  31 

Grove  Hill,  332 

Guadalajara,  282 

Guam,  205,  206 

Guillotine  perforation,  31 

Gum,  36 

Gumpaps,  31 

PIair-lines,  31 

"Hand    Catalogue      of     Postage 

Stamps,"  Dr.  Gray's,  124 
Hand-made  paper,  31,  39 
Hanover,  61,  326 
Hansardy  96-98 
Harbeck,  Mr.  C.  T.,  302 
Hardy,  Mr.  W.  J.,  298 
Harrison,  Mr.  G.  302 
Harrow  perforating  machine,  32 
Plarwood's  envelope,  109 
Hausburg,  M*-.  L.  L.  R.,  289 
Hawaii,  205-207,    234,  259,   274, 

295-299.  327-331 
Hayman,  Mr.  H.  L.,  302 


INDEX 


357 


Hayti,  71,  201,  205,  259 
Haywood,  Mrs.,  175 
Head-plate,  32 

Heath,  Mr.  Charles,  106,  176 
Heath,    Mr.  Frederick,    106,    173, 

175 
Helena,  332 
Heligoland,  306 
Henderson,    Mr.  S.,   of  Dalkeith, 

102 
Herodotus,  59 
Herpin,  M.  G.,  127 
Hill,  Mr.  Edwin,  160 
Hill,  Mr.  John,  64 
Hill,  Mr.  Matthew  Davenport,  96 
Hill,  Mr.  Ormond,  160 
Hill,  Sir  Rowland,  71-75,  97-101, 

110-112,  159,  160,  164,  167,  175, 

247,  272,  312  and  frontispiece 
Hinges  for  mounting  stamps,  137, 

140-144 
Hobson,  Tobias,  62 
Holland,  179,  234 
Hollander,  Mr.  C,  302 
Holstein,  61 
Honduras,  71 
Hong  Kong,  322 

House  of  Commons  envelopes,  no 
House  of  Lords  envelopes,  93,  no 
**  How  to  Detect  Forged  Stamps," 

241 
Hughes- Hughes,    Mr.,    123,   268, 

302 
Humphrys,  Mr.  William,  170 
Hungary,  276 

Iceland,  306 

Image,  Mr.  W.  E.,  281,  302 

Imperforate  stamps,  32,  140,  179- 

18s 
Imprimatur,  32 
Imprint,  32 
India,  223,  249 


Inverted,  32 

Ionian  Islands,  306 

Irish  National  Museum,  331 

Irregular  perforation,  32 

Italian  States,  118,  171,  203,  234, 

249,  326 
Italy,  60 

Jaffray,  Miss,  167 

Jamaica,  37,  170 

James  II.,  King,  64 

Japan,  234,  255,  295 

Jezebel's  forged  letters,  59 

Joab,  59 

Johnson,  Mr.  H.  F.,  9 

Joint-Committee  on  Postage  Stamps, 

276 
Jubilee  line,  32 
Junior  Philatelic  Society,  9,  322 

Kent,  H.R.H.  the  Duchess  of, 

170 
Key-plate,  27,  32 
King,  Mr.  S.,  of  Bath,  72,  73 
King's  Messengers,  62 
Kingston,  The  Earl  of,  131,  302 
Kintore,  The  Earl  of,  321 
Knife,  35 
Knight,  Mr.  Charles,  96-98 

Labuan, 224 
Lacroix,  M.,  266 
Lagos,  204 

Laid  batonne  paper,  35 
Laid  paper,  35,  39 
Lallier,  M.  Justin,  128,  278 
Lambton,  Major-General,  302 
Laplante,  M.  Edard  de,  266 
Lauenburg,  61 
Lawn  &  Barlow,  329 
Leeward  Islands,  204 
Legrand,  Dr.  A.,  126,  270,  302 
Leinster,  The  Duke  of,  331 


358 


INDEX 


L'Epinard,  Chevalier  Paris  de,  82 

Letter-balances,  72-74 

Letter-office  of  England,  The,  63, 
80 

Letters,  The  earliest,  58,  59 ;  penny- 
post  letter  in  1686,  83,  84 ; 
statistics,  75 

Lincoln,  Mr.  W.  S.,  117,  127 

Line-engraving,  35,  46 

Lithography,  35,  46 

Livingston,  183 

Locals,  35,  273 

Louis,  Mr.,  witness,  Select  Com- 
mittee, 95 

Luxemburg,  61,  326 

Macon,  332 

MacWhirter,  Mr.  John,  169 
Madden,  Rev.  G.  C.  B.,  186 
♦*  Magnus,"  Dr.,  270 
Malta,  71,  306 
Manila  paper,  35,  40 
Mann,  Mr.  W.  W.,  302 
Manuel,  H.M.  King,  325 
Marianne  Islands,  206 
Marsden,  Mr.  J.  N.,  302 
Marshall  Islands,  206 
Matrix,  27,  35,  50 
Mauritius,  47,  187,  202,  207,  224- 
227,   269,  278,   281,    290,   301, 

319-323.  329-332 
Maury,  M.  A.,  81 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  61 
MekeePs  Weekly  Stamp  News,  189 
Mercantile  Committee,  The,  lOi 
Mexico,  189,  203,  269,  305 
Millbury,  181 
Millimetre,  35 

Million  stamps  fable.  The,  116 
Mill-sheet,  35 
Mint,  35,  141 

Mirabaud,  M.  Paul,  282,  301,  302 
Mirror  of  Parliament,  The,  98 


Mixed  perforations,  35 

Modena,  240 

Moens,  M.J.  B.,  117,  128,  278 

Moldavia,  207,  234,  306,  329,  331 

Montenegro,  306 

Monthly  Advertiser,  The,  128 

Monthly  Intelligencer  and  Contro- 
versialist, The,  128 

Montserrat,  204,  224 

Morocco,  189 

"  Mounted  "  stamps,  36 

Mounting  stamps  in  albums,  137 

Mounts,  137 

Mozambique,  259 

Mulready,  Mr.  William  :  envelopes 
and  covers,  109-111,  159,  160, 
165,  167,  I75»  312 

Nankivell,  Mr.  E.  J.,  302 
Naples,  47,   118,   240,  249,   269, 

271,  274 
Natal,  202,  267,  311 
Native-made  paper,  36,  40 
Nepal,  40 
Netherlands,  61 
Nevis,  204,  227,  311,  322,  326 
New  Brunswick,  176,  228,  266,  271 
New  Caledonia,  206 
Newfoundland,  228,  329 
New  Hebrides,  206 
New  South  Wales,  106,  123,  176, 

207,  229,  254,  255,  272,  290,  3H 
Newspaper  tax,  96 
New  Zealand,  35,    170,   190,   229, 

271,  272 
Nicaragua,  242 
Nicholas,  Mme.,  121 
Niger  Coast  Protectorate,  204,  230 
Nissen,  Mr.  C.,  9,  106,  251 
Niue,  206 

North,  Mr.  J.  C,  168 
Northern  Nigeria,  204 
Norway,  306 


INDEX 


359 


Nova  Scotia,  228,  267,  271 
Nuncii  et  Cursores,  62 

Gates,  Titus,  64 

Obliterations,  36 

Obsolete,  36,  47 

Oceanic  Settlements,  206 

Oil  Rivers  Protectorate,  204 

Oldenburg,  61,  233,  326 

Original  covers,  stamps  used  on,  185 

Original  die,  36 

Original  gum,  36 

Overprint,  36 

Pacific  Steam  Navigation  Co., 
267 

Packet-collections,  136 

Pairs,  25,  36 

Palmer,  J.,  73 

Panama  Canal  Zone,  205 

Panes  of  Stamps,  33,  39 

Paper,  39-41 

Papua,  170,  206 

Paraphe,  41 

Parker,  Mr.  J.  W. ,  loi 

Parliament,  Temporary  letter- 
covers  for  Members  of,  93,    109 

Parma,  240 

Patte,  28,  41 

Paul,  Mr.  J.  W.,  jun.,  302 

Pauwels,  Mr.  J.,  302 

Peacock  papers,  The,  iii,  155,  175 

Peckitt,  Mr.  W.  H.,  9,  156,  266, 321 

Pellisson,  M.,  81 

Pelure  paper,  40,  41 

Pemberton,  Mr.  E.  L.,  123,  127, 
239,    242,  268,  272,  274 

Pen-cancelled,  41 

Penny  post,  first  proposed,  64 ;  in 
Edinburgh,  67  ;  local  penny 
posts,  67 

Penny  post  of  1680,    4,  82-84 

Penrhyn,  206 


Perazzi,  Signor,  112 
Perce,  per9age,  41,  42 
Perforation,  24,  31,  32,  35,  42-44, 

48,  139 
Perforation-gauge,  43,  44 
Perkins,  Bacon  &  Co.,   102,    106, 

201,  228 
Peroxide  ofhydrogen.  The  use  of,  138 
Persia,  24,  59 

Peru,  31,  71,  189,  267,  271,  325 
Petersburg,  326 
Petite  Foste,  80 

Philatelic  Record,  The,  82,  88,  275 
Philatelic  Society,  The  Royal,  105, 

123,  129,  131,  158,  160,  229,  272, 

306,  322,  325 
Philatelical  Journal,  The,  272 
Philatelist,  The,  305 
Philately,  Definition  of,  7,  44,  127 
Philately,  The  higher,  8 
Philbrick,   Judge,    123,    131,    155, 

270,  272,  275-282,  298,  302 
Philippine  Islands,  205,  206,  274 
Phillips,  Mr.  Charles  J.,  168 
Pin-perforation,  42,  45,  48 
Plate,  24,  27,  45,  46 
Plate-number,  29,  45 
Porto- Rico,  41,  205,  306 
Portugal,  71  ;  King  of,  305 
Portuguese  Nyassa,  172 
Post,  Genesis  of  the,  55-75 
"  Post,"  Origin  of  the  word,  59 
"  Postage  and  Telegraph  Stamps  of 

Great  Britain,  The,"  155,  276 
''Postage    Charts"     proposed    in 

Sweden,  91,  92 
Postage  Stamp,  The,  189 
Postage  Stamp  "chart,"  A,  119 
"  Postage   Stamps  and    their  Col- 
lection," 332 
Postal  fiscal,  45 
Postal  Stationery,  27,  28,  45 
Postmarks,  23,  36,  41,  45,  140,  185 


360 


INDEX 


Post-office  in  1790,  69 
Posts  in  early  times,  59-75 
Posts,  Master  of  the,  62 
Potiquet,  M.  Alfred,  125,  266 
Povey,  Mr.  Charles,  67 
Power,  Mr.  E.  B.,  273 
Pre-cancellation,  45 
Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents  of 

The    Royal    Philatelic    Society, 

London,  131 
Prices  of  old  stamps,  9 
Printers  of  postage  stamps,  202 
Printing  postage  stamps,  46 
Proofs,  46,  171-179 
Provisionals,  46 
Prussia,  61 
Punchy  116 
Puttick  &  Simpson,  281,  321 

Quadrille  paper  for  albums,  147  ; 

for  stamps,  39,  46 
**  Queen's  Heads  " ;  the  early  use 

of  the  term,  116 
Queensland,  175 

Re-cutting,  47 

Re-drawing,  47 

Re-engraving,  47 

Re-issues,  47 

Remainders,  47 

Renotiere,  M.  la,  275,  278,  296 

Rep  paper,  40,  47 

Reprints,  47,  256,  325 

Resetting,  47 

Retouching,  47 

Reunion,  269,  271,  329,  331 

Reliterskiold,  Baron  A.  de,  301 

Revenue,  48 

Reversed,  48 

Ribbed  paper,  40,  48 

Roberts,  Mr.  Vernon,  302 

Romagna,  240 

Roman /(jJzVfl,  The,  59 


Rosace,  28,  41,  48 
Rothschild,  Baron  Arthur,  275 
Rough  perforation,  48 
Rouletting,  41,  42,  48;  in  coloured 

lines,  48 
Roumania,  234,  257 
Royal  Niger  Co. ,  204 
Russell,  Mr.,  302 
Russia,  71,  189,  325 

**  Safety  "  paper,  40,  49 

St.  Christopher,  204 

St.  Helena,  71 

St.  Kitts-Nevis,  204 

St.  Louis,  268,  273 

St.  Vincent,  224,  230,  311 

Samoa,  206,  234 

Sandwich  Islands.     See  Hawaii 

Sappho,  The  French,  81,  82 

Sarawak,  201,  260 

Sardinia :    Letter  sheets   of  181 8, 

86-93 
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,    H.R.H.    the 

Duke  of,  131,  305-311 
Saxony,  61,  269,  271 
Schleswig-Holstein,  233 
Scud^ri,  Mdlle.,  81,  82 
Scythia  :  early  communications,  59 
Sedang,  259 
Seebeck,  Mr.  N.  F. ,  49 
Select  Committee  on  Postage,  95, 

98-101 
Serpentine  roulette,  49 
Servia,  306 
Se  tenant,  49 

Seybold,  Mr.  J.  F.,  296,  302 
Shanghai,  234 

Sheet  of  paper,  of  stamps,  49 
Sicily,  118 

Sierra  Leone,  204,  224,  231 
Sievier,  Mr.  R.  W.,  102 
Silk-thread  paper,  49 
Single-line  perifomtion,  49 


INDEX 


361 


Smith,  Mr.  Alfred,  127 

Smith,  Mr.  Stafford,  127 

Societ6  Frangaise  de  Timbrologie, 

127 
Somerset  House,  154-156,  172,  321 
South    African    War    provisionals, 

235 
South  America,  49,  203 
South  Australia,  231 
Southern  Nigeria,  204,  224 
Spain,  60,  71,  172,  234,  240,  248, 

271,  3ii>  325.  326 
Spandrel,  49 
Specialising,  49,  200-207 
Spitsbergen,  259 
Stainforth,    Rev.   F.  J.,  122,  129, 

267,  272 
**  Stamp  Collector,  The,"  298 
Stamp   Collector's   Magazine^    They 

117,  121,  128,  241,  275 
Stamp  Lover ^  The^  170 
Stanley  Gibbons,  Ltd.,  9,  266 
Stationery,  45,  50 
Stead,  Mr.',  of  Norwich,  102 
Stead,  Mr.,  of  Yarmouth,  95 
Stephan,  Dr.  von,  330 
Stereotyping,  46,  50 
Stourton,  Mr.  J.  M.,  240 
Strip  of  Stamps,  25,  50 
Surcharge,  36,  50 
Surface-printed,  46,  50 
Sweden,  71,  91,  306,  311 
Switzerland,   234,   240,    256,   267, 

271,  290,  291,  301,  311,  325 
Sydney,  Embossed  envelopes  used 

in,  106,  272 

Tahiti,  206 

Taille  douce,  35,  50 

Tapling,   Mr.   T.    K.,   M.P.,    131, 

281,  298,  326-330 
•* Tapling"   Collection  of   Stamps 

and  Postal  Stationery,  The,"  329 


Tasmania,  231 

Taxes  on  knowledge,  96 

Taylor,  Mr.  Overy,  124 

Tete-beche  pairs,  50,  253 

Thorne,  Mr.  W.,  296 

Thurn  and  Taxis,  Counts  of,  60- 

62 
Timbre- Poste^  Le^  117,  128 
Timbrologie  i  127 
Times,  The,  115 
Tobago,  231 
Tomson,  Mr.  A.  S.,  302 
Toned  paper,  50 
Tonga,  206 
Torres  Straits,  259 
Transvaal,  232,  318 
Treasury  Competition,   The,   102- 

109,  163 
Treffenberg,  Lieut.  Curry  Gabriel,  91 
Tresse,  28,  41,  50 
Trials,  50 

Trinidad,  269,  322,  326 
Trinidad,  Principality  of,  259 
Tuilleries  open-air  stamp  exchange, 

121 
Tuke,  Sir  Brian,  62 
Turkey,  71 

Turks'  Islands,  232,  322 
Tuscany,  118,  267,  269,  271 
Two-j<?«j  post,  80-82 
Type  (design),  53 
Type-set  stamps,  53 
Typography,  46,  53 

Uganda,  232 

Uniform  Penny  Postage,  6^,  71-75 
Union  of  South  Africa,  190,  191 
United  States,  31,  35,  71,  116,  168, 
171,  189,203,205,234,255,257, 
273,  279,  289,  295,  311,  326,  331 
*'  United  States  Stamps,"  273 
Universal  Penny  Postage,  190 
Uriah  the  Hittite,  58 


362 


INDEX 


Uruguay,  179,  180,  234,  306,  326 
Used  abroad,  53 

Valette,  M.  Francois,  126 
"Vanguard,  The,"  169 
Variety,  53 
Vaud,  271,  326 
Victor,  Mr.  Henry  R.,  127 
Victoria,  224,  233,  269,  282 
Victoria,  Queen,  73,  170,  312 
Villayer,  Comte  de,  80-82 
Viner,  Dr.  C.  W.,  117,  123 
Virgin  Islands,  204 

Walker,  Mr.  Leslie  J.,  168 
Wallace,  Mr.,  M.  P.,  98 
Ward,  Sir  Joseph,  190 
Watermarks,  37,  53,  254 
Western  Australia,  233,  329 
Westoby,  Mr.  W.  A.  S.,  156,  275- 
277,  282,  305 


Whiting,  Mr.  Charles,  95,  96,  102 
Wilbey,  Mr.  J.  E.,  302 
Willett,  Mr.  W.  T.,  302 
Williamson,  Mr.  Peter,  67 
Winzer,  Mr.  E.,  302 
Witherings,  Mr.  Thomas,  63 
Woods,  Mr.  J.  J.,  127 
Worms,  Baron  Anthony  de,  290 
Worthington,  Mr.  George  H.,  290, 

331 

Wove  batonne  paper,  53 

Wove  paper,  39,  53 

Wright,  Mr.  Hastings  E.,  156,  160 

Writing-up  a  collection,  148-150 

Wurtemburg,  61,  311 

Wyon,  Mr.  William,  1 06,  163 

Young  Ladies* Journal,  Thetl^^t  267 
Ysasl,  Mr.  V.  G.  de,  131 

Zurich,  240,  271,  326 


UNWIN  BR0THBR8,  LIMITED,  THK  GRESHAM  PRESS,  WOKING  AVD  LONDON. 


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